


Ross and Frazer, Inc.

by a9e9r9e1n



Category: Uncharted (Video Games)
Genre: Aztec Empire, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Gen, I'm new and awful at tags, Lesbian Character, Lesbian Character of Color, Nate and Elena being parental, Post-Uncharted 4: A Thief's End, Romantic Fluff, Sam and Nadine annoying each other, Slow Burn Ish, Treasure Hunting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-23
Updated: 2020-04-17
Packaged: 2021-02-28 22:32:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 20
Words: 54,414
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23284810
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/a9e9r9e1n/pseuds/a9e9r9e1n
Summary: After months of research and multiple failed missions, Chloe thinks she finally has something worth reuniting with Nadine over. And she really, really wants to reunite with Nadine. The lost treasure of Montezuma won't find itself, after all.
Relationships: Chloe Frazer/Nadine Ross, Nathan Drake/Elena Fisher, Samuel Drake & Nadine Ross & Chloe Frazer
Comments: 110
Kudos: 267





	1. Warm Welcome

* * *

Chloe squinted from her phone screen up at the house ahead of her, and back again. It was hard to tell in the darkness, late as it was, but this had to be the place. She hopped over the gate, the sounds of her boots on the gravel path to the front door disturbing the silence of the night. Chloe stepped onto the veranda, hand outstretched for the door handle, when she noticed the metal square on the wall next to it; it consisted of a number dial with a small screen above, and a light which blinked green at odd intervals.

A lock. The kind of lock that would set off a piercing alarm if Chloe dared disturb it.

Hands stemmed against her hips, chewing on her bottom lip, Chloe took a step back and looked at the house. It was not particularly tall and reasonably easy to climb, but she could see no way in. Finally, once she had walked far away enough, Chloe saw the open window on the roof.

 _That’s not even a challenge_ , she thought with a smirk.

The rain pipe along the side of the house squeaked under her weight, but it seemed sturdy enough. Chloe made it up to the roof and squeezed through the window, so that she landed in the house’s attic with a dull thud, sending up a cloud of dust around her.

“Jesus,” she coughed, waving her arms around to disperse the dust. On the far side of the room, she spied the door.

The temptation to stop and take a look was great, especially when Chloe spied a ceiling-high stack of photo albums with promising labels such as _Summer in Greece – 1992_ , but she had to press on – although not before promising herself that she would return to the albums in due time.

Chloe dropped to her knees in front of the door, disentangling her right earring from her ear and setting to work on the lock. It gave way and she pushed it open, grateful for the well-greased hinges. She stood facing a long hallway, with moonlight pouring in from the windows on the left and a long succession of doors on the right, and a stairway leading down to the ground floor on the very end. Chloe treaded as softly as possible, smiling at the sound of snores on the other side of the wall. She made it to the stairs, swung her legs over the bannister, and slid all the way down silently. Chloe congratulated herself on her own ingenuity.

The living room was massive. The windows went from floor to ceiling with a view of the well-kept garden and slivers of the nearby ocean on the horizon. Chloe sank down into one of the leather armchairs, sighing as she reached over and undid her laces, kicking her boots off. They fell to the ground and the impact made dirt come loose and sprinkle all over the clean white carpet.

“Ah, shit.”

Chloe pushed herself back up, stretching, arching her back and hearing it crack satisfyingly on her way to the kitchen. She turned on the lights above the counters, looking for a rag to clean up the mud. There were a few dirty dishes in the sink, and on top of yesterday’s newspaper lay a dissembled gun with tools. Chloe grinned. How very domestic.

She began to hum and crouched down to access the cupboard under the sink, the universal place to store cleaning supplies. Just as she went to grab the kitchen roll, Chloe spotted something moving to her left and in the next moment, the cupboard door crashed into her face and Chloe’s head was smashed into the wall.

“Frazer?!”

Chloe kicked the door which had been ripped out of its hinges off her, cradling her head in her hands and feeling blood drip down her face. She screwed her eyes shut and rocked back and forth.

“Yes, it’s me, you idiot! Hello!”

“What the hell are you doing here?”

Chloe opened her eyes to the sight of Nadine standing in front of her, dressed in a shirt and men’s boxer shorts, with wild bed hair. She looked concerned.

“Hold on.”

She turned around and Chloe went back to trying to control the ringing in her head, cursing under her breath. When she opened her eyes again, Nadine was crouching in front of her, holding out a pack of frozen peas.

“Here,” she motioned and Chloe pressed the cold packet against her head. “Better?”

“I’ll need a minute,” Chloe sighed, peering up at Nadine, amused at her troubled expression. “It’s nice to see you again, this has been quite the welcome.”

“I thought you were a robber,” Nadine sighed, sitting down.

“A robber who was out for some oven cleaner and dish soap?” Chloe said. “You have strange felons here in South Africa.”

Nadine smiled and shook her head, so that her curls bounced about her face. Chloe groaned and moved the peas from one temple to another. “You know, if that had been anyone other than me, you would have killed them.”

She shrugged, “It’s what you get for breaking into my house.”

“So severe,” Chloe breathed. “Here,” she put her hand out. “Help me up.”

“Take it easy, ja?” Nadine said, pulling Chloe to her feet. “I really didn’t hold back with that kick.”

“Nothing I can’t take.”

She led her to the living room, where Chloe sat back down in the armchair with a grunt. Nadine returned with a glass of water and pulled up the rocking chair from the corner, studying Chloe.

“Is all this nurturing your attempt at an apology?” Chloe asked, sipping from the glass, still pressing the slowly thawing peas against her head.

Nadine only raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms, sliding back into the chair, not taking her eyes off Chloe. “In all seriousness, what are you doing here? No, wait- how did you find me?”

Chloe could only grin. “I have my ways.”

Nadine rolled her eyes. “Fine. Why are you here? I thought we agreed to meet in Brussels next month.”

“That deal fell through ages ago,” Chloe dropped the peas and put the glass down.

“What? When was I supposed to find out about this-”

“Listen, it doesn’t matter,” she gripped Nadine’s arm, warmth seeping into her cold fingers. “Because I found something better. Too good to tell you over the phone.”

“So you break into my house in the dead of night instead.”

“Hey, this was the only flight I could find on such short notice from Sydney to Cape Town. Blame Emirates, not me.”

“Alright, alright,” Nadine said, leaning over to place Chloe’s glass on one of the coasters on the table. Chloe supressed a remark. “What is it that you found?”

She reached for her bag, but suddenly light poured into the room from the hallway and footsteps were heard as someone walked down the stairs. Nadine ripped Chloe out of the chair and dragged her across the room, shoving her into a corner next to the window. She pressed her into the wall and adjusted the curtain so that it hid them both. Nadine’s elbows were on either side of Chloe’s head, leaving no space between their bodies. Chloe watched Nadine intently, inspecting the profile of her face as she had turned her head over her shoulder to listen to the intruder. Both of Chloe’s hands were pinned to the wall by Nadine’s thighs and Chloe wiggled them free. Nadine hissed at her to stop moving.

The person came closer and walked right past the open door to the living room, halting in the kitchen. There was a bit of cluttering and then the faucet was turned on. Chloe moved her hands up to Nadine’s shirt and smoothed out the part which wasn’t pressed against her to be legible.

“University of Cape Town? I didn’t-”

Nadine brought her hand down hard over Chloe’s mouth with a glare. She felt her stomach jolt at the sudden roughness, not finding it to be terribly unpleasant. Nadine moved her head so that it was positioned over Chloe’s shoulder, and she could feel her breath tickle her neck. Her instinctive squirming was rewarded by Nadine flattening her against the wall more forcefully, a counterintuitive measure.

The person put a glass down and extinguished the lights in the kitchen, retreating back upstairs. They were engulfed by darkness until Nadine deemed it safe to move. She pushed herself off Chloe and wiped her hand on her shirt.

“Real mature of you to start licking me. How old are you, eight?”

“Give or take twenty years,” she replied.

“More like thirty,” Nadine scoffed and Chloe promptly rewarded her remark by throwing one of the cushions at her.

“Rude,” she said and sat down on the couch. “Anyways, I didn’t know you went to university.”

“That’s because I didn’t, not really. Dropped out after two years,” Nadine sat in the armchair and smoothed the pillow out in her lap. “Had to take over the family business.”

“What were you studying?”

Nadine shook her head, “Just something boring.”

“Oh, come on. Tell me. I never so much as set foot in a university,” Chloe pleaded.

“Fine,” she relented. “Chemical engineering.”

“Ah, well,” Chloe leaned back into the couch, opening her arms. “Now that… that is simply _riveting_.”

“Oh fuck off,” Nadine chucked the pillow back at Chloe, who was able to block it with the simple raising of her leg.

The two looked at each other, breaking into wide grins and soft laughter. It had been three months, much longer than originally planned, since they had least seen each other at the Ministry of Culture’s office in Mumbai. They had remained in constant contact, scheming and making plans which had all fallen through at the last minute. Chloe felt a surge of excitement at the thought of them being together, with a concrete adventure in sight.

“So, partner,” Chloe added extra emphasis on the word, and Nadine smirked. “I found something. Something really exciting.” She reached for her bag and pulled out her laptop, which was held together by duct tape and prayers, but with which Chloe could not bear to part. The fan inside began to rattle as Chloe turned it on and out of the corner of her eye she saw Nadine’s puzzled expression.

“It has sentimental value,” she explained.

Chloe pulled up a website and wandered over to Nadine, sitting down on the armrest of her chair. Nadine leaned in closer, so that her cheek touched Chloe’s arm. She frowned and read out loud, “The Natural History Museum in London invites you to our evening gala for the unveiling of the lost treasure of Cortés.” She peered up at Chloe, “What?”

“A couple of weeks ago, I came across this announcement by the Natural History Museum that they were hosting a gala. Apparently, someone up in Utah has found the only remaining piece of the lost treasure of Cortés and they decided to donate it to the museum.”

“The lost treasure of Cortés? One of the conquistadors?” Nadine asked.

“Yes. Legend has it that when he and his men first occupied Tenochtitlan, busy stealing and raping and whatnot, the Aztecs rebelled and actually drove them out of the city.” Chloe began to gesticulate wildly and Nadine secured the laptop before it could fall. “While fleeing, the Spaniards had to lighten their load and seemingly the main thing to be thrown out was gold.”

Nadine raised her eyebrows and nodded.

“Now here is where opinions divide. Many say that the treasure is still exactly where the Spaniards left it, which would mean deep under Mexico City. Others say that the Aztecs reclaimed the treasure and hid it somewhere far away. Some even say that the Spaniards themselves retrieved it when they finally defeated the Aztecs, but that the ship carrying the cargo was lost at sea.” Chloe jabbed at the screen. “And now some American has apparently found the only surviving artefact.”

“Before you continue, your plan _is_ for us to go to this gala and steal the thing, ja?” Nadine asked. “Just so I don’t get my hopes up in case it isn’t.”

“Oh, no, that’s definitely where I was going with this,” Chloe reassured her, gripping Nadine’s thigh. “But don’t you want to know why we’re going to steal it?”

“Go on.”

“Thanks, china,” Chloe smiled sarcastically. “You see, it didn’t really interest me until I saw this picture.” She clicked through the ten open tabs on her window before landing on the image of a golden square, covered in intricate etchings of faces and animals, with a jade stone set in the centre. “This is the front, and now _this_ ,” she clicked onto the next page, “is the back.”

The etchings on the golden square were still the same, and if not, then they were similar, except now at least a dozen needles of different lengths, like long, narrow arms on a clock, were spread symmetrically about the centre, giving the impression of forming a sun. Nadine squinted at it, pulling the flickering screen of the laptop closer.

“Strange.”

“I know.”

“What do you think it is?”

“I think it’s a map. Or at least a code, which will tell us where the real treasure is hidden.” Nadine looked up to see Chloe beaming down at her with a grin stretching from one ear to another. She couldn’t help but smile too. “What do you say?”

“What if it isn’t a map and just a funny looking ornament?”

“Well, then, we steal it and sell it off to finance our next true treasure hunt,” Chloe elbowed Nadine in the ribs lightly. “Come on! Do we have anything better to do?”

“It’s as good a start as any,” Nadine admitted and leaned back in her chair. “But how are we going to steal it? Do we need plans of the building?”

“Oh, no need,” Chloe waved hand. “I got us invitations to the gala.”

“You got _us_ invitations?” Nadine asked.

“Well, not _us_ exactly,” she admitted. “According to the organisation committee of the gala, we are Lorraine Copeland and Mary Brodrick, Cambridge graduates in the field of archaeology, and authors of various books on the Aztec Empire.”

Chloe bent down to pull an envelope out of her bag, which she handed to Nadine. Inside were two tickets.

“Not bad,” Nadine agreed, keeping the envelope. “Should be a piece of cake.”

“Mhm,” Chloe agreed, making a poor attempt at stifling a yawn. “Gosh, what time is it?”

“2:38.”

She hopped off the armrest and gathered her laptop and bag, slipping back into her shoes. Nadine watched her with a quizzical frown.

“Well, come on. Our flight to London is only in twelve hours, I plan on getting a bit of rest before that.”

“Today? We’re flying today?”

Chloe raised her eyebrows at her. “Well, yeah. What did you think?”

“No, nothing, just good to know.”

Nadine stood up, walking down the hall with Chloe. She grabbed her keys off the hook on the wall, and headed for the door.

“There’s a nice hotel 10 minutes-”

But Chloe walked right past her and up the stairs. Nadine hissed at her to come back down, but she paid no attention and disappeared out of sight. Cursing under her breath, Nadine went after her, finding that Chloe had already disappeared into the last room.

The sight that greeted her was that of Chloe sitting cross-legged on the bed, passionately petting a black Labrador, whose tail made a dull thumping sound as it wagged against the covers. Nadine watched them for a second, but then stepped in and shut the door when Chloe noticed her presence.

“You didn’t tell me you had a dog!” she exclaimed, scratching the dog behind the ears so its hind leg began to shake.

“At what point in time would that have been relevant?” Nadine asked, strangely amused by seeing Chloe so childishly excited. It made her eyes shine.

“At any, of course!” Chloe retorted, sticking her face out to the dog, who began to lap at her lips.

“Disgusting, Frazer,” Nadine groaned. “Come here, Sammy. Sammy, out!”

After a moment of hesitation and one last hearty lick, the dog jumped off the bed and waddled out diligently. Nadine held the door open, and patted him in passing. She began to move the laundry and books that had piled up on her couch out of the way, when something was thrown at her and wrapped itself around her head. A shiver ran through Nadine’s body when she pulled Chloe’s trousers off her face. Before she could say anything, Chloe chucked her bra at her as well, so that the hooks got caught in her hair and became tangled. As Nadine stood there, trying to pry the bra loose, Chloe could barely contain her laughter.

Angry that she herself was close to laughing, Nadine said nothing. The bra came loose and fell to the floor, and Nadine pulled the quilt off her bed to use as a blanket.

“You can’t be serious,” Chloe said. “You’re not really going to sleep on the couch.”

“I’m not good at sharing,” Nadine replied.

“I’m easy to sleep with”, she smirked and Nadine fought hard with herself to not blush. “Come on, you can’t let me steal your own bed.”

Begrudgingly, Nadine agreed and slipped under the covers which Chloe had folded back for her. She lay on her side stiffly, facing away from Chloe, as the latter moved and squirmed and turned the lights on and off again, until she had finally had enough.

“Lay still, Frazer!”

“Sorry, sorry,” Chloe whispered defensively. “It’s just your mattress is so stiff.”

“I took it with me from my time in the army,” Nadine turned to watch Chloe punch the pillow into a shape that was agreeable to her.

“Of course you did.”

“If you don’t like it, there’s a perfectly fine couch over there,” she gestured towards the old, washed out, worn piece of furniture.

“No, no, this will do.” Chloe threw herself back into the bed, so that her head only missed the headboard by mere chance. She rolled over to face Nadine, whose eyes were closed. Who would have known that that woman could look peaceful, even innocent? Her lips twitched ever so slightly as she drifted off to sleep, making the mole above them quiver. Chloe moved closer.

The thought of reaching out, of tracing the line of Nadine’s jaw lightly with her fingertips, was tempting. Chloe hesitated. She didn’t know what Nadine’s reaction would be. She didn’t even know why she herself was so drawn to the thought of touching her skin. Well, of course she knew _why_ , but it was the uncertainty, the inability to predict what would happen next, that drove Chloe mad. She moved even closer.

Nadine stirred, and brought her hands up so that her face was resting against a half-closed fist. The other hand lay on the mattress, close enough to Chloe’s own that she could feel its warmth. She was so close to her face that every breath caused the smaller curls on Nadine’s head to shake. Nadine opened her eyes, unfazed by the proximity of Chloe’s face.

“Chloe?”

“Yes?” Her heart skipped several beats.

“Your breath smells like dog.”

Chloe grabbed a pillow and pushed it into Nadine’s face. “Oh fuck off!”

Nadine fought her with benevolent laughter, extremely pleased at her own wit. She handed the pillow back to Chloe, making sure to pat it down like she had done before. “Here, get some rest.”

“I will,” Chloe bunched up the blankets around her and turned onto her side, with her back to Nadine, who was still chuckling softly.

“Goodnight, Chloe.”

“Goodnight.”


	2. The Gala

* * *

Chloe spun her necklace around her finger. At first clockwise, then counter clockwise. The red and white beads blurred in front of her eyes as the motion quickened.

“Does baggage claim always take this long?” Nadine complained on the bench next to her, putting her phone in her pocket. “What is taking them?”

“Not a frequent flyer, eh?” Chloe mused.

“ _Very_ frequent flyer,” Nadine corrected her. “But my luggage usually isn’t the kind you can check in.”

Chloe mumbled something, and they both fell back into silence as they watched the empty conveyor belt sluggishly make its rounds. Finally the first suitcases appeared, and they were able to walk off with their black duffel bags.

“Got nothing to declare, Nadine?” Chloe joked as they passed the endless line of people in front of the counter. The response came as a grunt.

They got on the train from Heathrow to London, barely making conversation. On the flight over they had fallen asleep on top of each other, with Chloe waking up to the feeling of Nadine’s head on her lap. She pretended to remain asleep until Nadine herself woke up and nervously withdrew herself from the suggestive position. Now they sat next to each other stiffly, each lost in their own thoughts. They had six hours.

“I thought we had separate rooms?” Nadine said as Chloe swiped the key card through the slot next to the handle, and held the door open for her.

“Must have been a mix up,” Chloe winked.

She emptied the contents of her duffel bag onto the bed, which consisted mostly of books the size and weight of bricks, and began to page through them. _A_ _summary of the Aztec Empire, Origins of the Conquistadors, Causes and Effects of the fall of the Aztecs_ … The information blurred before her eyes as she speed read through it all, highlighter in hand, cap in mouth. Meanwhile, Nadine raced up and down the room. She disappeared into the bathroom for half an hour, remerging in only a towel. Chloe almost chocked on the cap.

“You do know that you can’t go to the gala dressed like that, right?” Nadine said as she unzipped her bag, taking out shoes and a long olive green jumpsuit. She pointed at Chloe’s sweatpants. “This doesn’t exactly scream respectable archaeologist.”

“I’ll get to it,” Chloe waved her concern aside. “I need to get my knowledge on the Aztecs up to par first. You might want to read up too. I hear Wikipedia is a great source.”

Nadine chuckled and shook her head.

They spent more time in silence, with Chloe becoming increasingly distracted by Nadine, until she gave up on her studies entirely. Nadine had gone into the bathroom again, this time coming out clothed, and began to roll up the loose pant leg of her jumpsuit until the better part of her thigh was exposed. A carefully selected assortment of guns and knives was pulled out of Nadine’s bag and strapped to her leg instead. She walked to the mirror and let the jumpsuit cover the weapons, checking to see if they were at all detectable.

“You know, if we follow my plan, there won’t be any need for all these,” Chloe said, pulling a black dress out from underneath the books, trying to press the creases out with the palm of her hand.

“And what is your plan?” Nadine asked, honing one of her knives.

“We walk in, socialise, steal the thing when no one is looking, and then walk right out.”

Nadine burst into laughter. “How often has that worked out for you?”

“It would be a first,” Chloe admitted. “But it’s never too late to try.”

She then got dressed herself. With the same care that Nadine had displayed while selecting her knives, Chloe sat before her jewellery box, inspecting earrings. She looked up into the mirror to see Nadine leaning against the door frame with crossed arms.

“You don’t seriously plan on picking the lock on a museum artefact worth millions with those?” She asked.

Chloe shrugged, “You never know.”

“You didn’t even take a gun with you.”

“Nadine, did you look through my stuff?”

“I’ll lend you one of mine,” she huffed, leaving the room. Chloe smiled to herself and inserted a pair of earrings.

They gathered their things and, to humour Nadine, Chloe agreed to carry a gun. While they sat in the cab, driving through the darkening streets of London, Chloe began to feel a rush of excitement take hold in the pit of her stomach. 14 weeks and 6 days, four failed missions, and one impromptu flight to Cape Town is what it had taken for this adventure to happen. It better be good.

Chloe’s phone buzzed and lit up. She grinned at the message.

“What is it?” Nadine asked.

“Oh, just Sam wishing us good luck,” she replied. “And look, he’s an uncle now.”

The image Chloe held up to Nadine was one of Sam, dressed in a shirt he had obviously stolen from Sully, holding a tiny disgruntled new-born in his muscular arms. Underneath it said: _Cassie and I wish you all the best. You can’t tell, but she’s super excited to be related to me._

Nadine rolled her eyes. “Great, just what the world needed. Another Drake.”

“Well, she’s only _half_ Drake,” Chloe reminded her. “Maybe she’ll only be half as insufferable.”

“Still more than enough,” Nadine grumbled.

“And anyways, by the time she grows up to be a threat, we’ll both be retired.”

“Speak for yourself. I won’t be retiring in a long time.”

“Good, because this kind of job doesn’t exactly come with a pension,” Chloe sighed.

The cab halted and the driver opened the door for them. They stepped out and were immediately flocked by servers and attendees wanting to offer them drinks and entrées, asking for their coats. Chloe only realised later, as they walked along a red carpet to the big hall hosting the gala, that Nadine and her had linked arms as a defensive stance against all this attention. She planned on keeping it that way.

The room was brightly lit by a plethora of chandeliers, but the night shone in through its massive windows. High, round tables draped in tablecloths that matched the carpet stood scattered about the room. It was only 7:30, and there were correspondingly few people. Nadine and Chloe were drawn to an empty table, where they stood making conversation amongst the two of them. Unlike most other events they had attended, there was little mingling and socialising happening here. Nadine speculated that it was due to the fact that all archaeologists and historians were introverts. An American couple, professors of archaeology at Cornell, and their teenage son joined the table, but kept to themselves. Chloe began to get bored, and although Nadine kept hissing at her to stop looking it, she knew that she felt the same. So they busied themselves waving down servers carrying platters with food.

The sound of voices in the hall slowly grew, amplified by the tell-tale echo of a museum. It began to fill and at after about an hour, it seemed like there was finally going to be some action. The lights dimmed slightly and the stage at the far end of the room was illuminated. Nadine and Chloe were left alone as the Americans sought a closer table. It suited them perfectly to be so far back; it allowed them to keep everyone in sight.

“Don’t suppose you’ve seen someone who might have the same intentions as us tonight?” Chloe muttered to Nadine, eyeing the security guards posted at every entrance. It was strange to be so under-informed on the people attending, but then again, nobody seemed to raise any suspicion. She felt uneasy.

“No. I fear your plan might work out after all,” Nadine replied while chewing on her lip. “A bit too good to be true, is it not?”

She nodded, but the emergence of a man on stage and the resulting applause kept her from replying. He was short and wiry, in his mid to late 60s, and had a blindingly white, bushy moustache, probably to make up for the absence of hair on his head. Another man, who was twice the first man’s height and weight, and possessed a full head of black hair, followed him onstage. The older man introduced them as Dr Abram Morley, curator at the Natural History Museum, and Dr Gabriel Ibarra, history professor at the University of Guadalajara.

“Ladies and gentlemen, it is my absolute pleasure to welcome you to this gala tonight. I am glad that so many of you decided to join us on such a momentous occasion,” said Dr Morley, cradling the microphone like a baby. He clearly enjoyed the limelight. “I know most of you here have degrees in Aztec history, but I fear that a quick summary on my part will be unavoidable.” There was soft laughter in the audience, and Nadine scoffed.

“As we all know, in 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue. 13 years later, Hernán Cortés joined the budding conquistador movement at Hispaniola. By 1519, they had reached Tenochtitlan under his command and were holding the emperor Montezuma hostage in exchange for gold. After a brutal massacre during a religious festival, the Aztecs rose in rebellion, and Montezuma was killed in the confusion.” His voice quavered dramatically, as if that murder over 400 years ago still haunted him.

“The Spanish forces fled Tenochtitlan under full attack and were forced to dispose of all their looted riches in the waters of Lake Texcoco in their mad rush to escape. Though Cortés returned with a rebuilt army the next year and conquered the Aztecs for good, the so-called ‘Montezuma’s Treasure’ would remain lost. Or so we thought.”

Morley’s eyes shone in excitement, and Ibarra, who up until then had stood rigidly in the background with a minuscule smile, walked off stage.

“Legends spawned, as they do. The most mystical of them all being that more than 2,000 men of the Aztec empire retrieved the treasure and marched it, together with Montezuma’s exhumed corpse, north. Upon finding a hiding spot, they all killed themselves to keep the location secret, but also so that their souls might guard the treasure for all eternity.” 

Ibarra came back on stage, pushing a trolley with a red cloth over it. He parked it in the centre, stepping aside again so Morley could come closer and fondle the cloth between his fingers as he spoke.

“Two weeks ago I received a phone call from the University of Guadalajara. They said that an item had been brought to them by someone who wished to remain anonymous, all the way from Ogden in Utah, United States. I need not make a dramatic reveal, we all know what we are here for.” And with that he tore the cloth off the trolley. Simultaneously, the screen above the stage came to life, displaying a zoomed-in view of the two men on stage. The artefact glimmered beneath the glass.

The speech Morley launched into found no end. Chloe was half slumped over the table, trying to get pressure off her aching feet. Nadine, trying to maintain a more dignified appearance, struggled to keep her eyes open as she rested her face in her hands. Around the room, unrest and boredom began to spread as well, until even Ibarra began to nervously sway from one foot to the next on stage. The two men on the table to their right were on their phones, but when Chloe tried to do the same, Nadine knocked it out of her hands. The air of mystique and wonder around the artefact had been bludgeoned to death by Morley’s lecture.

Finally, it came to an end, just as Nadine and Chloe began a heated whispered discussion over whether it was really necessary for them to stay. The applause was one of relief and not appreciation, though no doubt Morley interpreted it in whichever way suited him. Ibarra seized the microphone and declared in perfect English that guests were now welcome to come on stage and look at the artefact before it was carted away and installed for tomorrow’s exhibition. Nadine had to stop Chloe from breaking into a sprint.

They filed into the forming queue, Chloe in front of Nadine, chatting softly amongst them like the rest of the crowd. When she finally got on stage, Chloe was blinded by the harsh lights and forced to squint at the glass case that housed the artefact. It was not much bigger than the palm of her hand, and because she had been studying the image displayed on the museum’s website so obsessively, Chloe noticed that the needles had shifted. Was it wear and tear, or were they mobile? She didn’t have much time to ponder it before Nadine stemmed her hands into the small of her back and urged her forwards.

They left soon after that, admittedly early, but not early enough to raise suspicion, or so they hoped. The cab Nadine had called let them out nearby and they ventured into a pub, where they sat down at a booth with a communal sigh of relief.

“That man could _talk_ ,” Nadine groaned, shaking her head.

“I seriously considered giving up on this whole thing just to get out of there,” Chloe reached back and undid her hair, running her fingers through her scalp. “It’s so nice to finally sit.”

Nadine laughed and ordered two pints for them, reaching into her pocket and sliding Chloe’s phone over the table. “You’ve earned this.”

“So gracious of you.” Chloe retorted, turning it in her hands.

The gala was scheduled to end at midnight, and Nadine and Chloe passed the time by going through the pictures on Chloe’s phone from the last time they had seen each other. Two pints in, they were both sitting on the same side of the booth, with Chloe’s knees stemmed against the table and Nadine’s arm extending across the back of the booth, so that the back of Chloe’s head would brush it every time she laughed.

Time passed quicker as they scrolled through pictures of monkeys and elephants and ancient sites, and Chloe almost spit out her beer when she caught a glimpse of the time. She slammed a twenty pound note onto the table and kicked Nadine out of the booth. They burst out of the pub and Nadine hailed them a cab by standing in the middle of the road. The driver let them out a few streets before the museum, and they sprinted off into the park surrounding the place. Only when they were securely hidden between shrubbery and the back wall of the building, right underneath the window to the men’s bathroom, whose lock Chloe had conveniently picked during one of her many bathroom breaks, did they stop to take a breath.

“As much as I appreciate your concern for my safety,” Chloe whispered into Nadine’s ear as both stood next to each other with their backs pressed into the wall, “I think you can let go of me now.”

Nadine looked down and realised – to her horror – that she had been holding onto Chloe’s hand tightly the entire time. She jerked back and saw that her fingers had left glistening, sweaty imprints on Chloe’s arm, which only added to her embarrassment. Nadine was neither familiar with, nor good at handling, said emotion.

“Thanks,” Chloe said, rubbing her wrist as blood rushed back in. It amused her how easily Nadine’s face was to read. She took off her heels and hooked them into the front of her dress. “Give me a boost?”

Nadine assumed position with an averted gaze. In one single, fluid motion, Chloe shot up into the air, pushed the window open whose electronic lock she had disabled by sliding in a piece of paper, and jumped inside. The sound of her naked feet on the tiles made a deafening sound in a building this empty. Chloe reached out and pulled Nadine inside. It took them less than a minute to break into the building. Chloe announced that fact smugly.

“You do remember that this was the easy part?” Nadine said as she propped a foot on the sink and rolled her pant leg up to reveal the assortment of knives and guns. She loaded all weapons and tucked a knife into her cleavage. Chloe almost knocked the window shut by leaning too far to the right to catch a better glimpse. Their gazes met in the mirror when Chloe’s head hit the glass and she hurriedly tried to fix her mistake. Nadine chuckled, shaking her head.

“I really doubt that you will need those at all,” Chloe said, bending over to gather all her hair in a ponytail, trying her best to regain her cool.

“Better safe than sorry.”

Both were ready, and standing shoulder to shoulder in front of the door. Chloe reached out and opened the door.

“Ready, partner?”

Nadine combined her smile with a dramatic eye roll, and grabbed Chloe’s hand to march out into adventure. “Come on.”


	3. Awake

* * *

She floated in and out of consciousness.

There was a cab. She remembered lying across the entire back row, staring up at the ceiling, lights flashing by. The most vivid part of that memory was the initial agony, the initial realisation that she was hurt. There was a searing pain in her head, a fire that could not be put out as it slowly ate its way from the back of her head to her face. Everything was wet. She wanted to move her hands up; her head felt like it was about to split down the middle and she had to hold it together. But her body did not belong to her anymore and a sudden jolt sent her back under.

The next time she woke up, it was for a much shorter time, but it felt more vivid. She found herself on a cargo train, in a nearly empty compartment. The floor underneath her vibrated painfully, but she was lying in a nest of clothes. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw fields race by in the soft light of dawn through the partly open door. The pain that sprouted from her head and paralysed her entire body was still just as present as before, but her sense of hearing had made a comeback. She heard rattling. And her voice.

“She’s going to die on me. She’s going to die on me. Please, help. _Please_ , I beg of you-”

“Nadine.”

There was scrambling, the sound of something heavy hitting the ground, but Chloe did not make it to see Nadine bend over her.

By the third time she woke up, she was in a bed. It was not a violent surge that made Chloe open her eyes like the past two times. This time it was much more like a gradual transition from sleep to wakefulness. First she perceived the sheets around her body, and how hot and sweaty they felt. She was lying on her side, presumably for a long time, because her hips were aching from the pressure. The pain in her head had subsided to a dull throb.

There was someone else in the room. She heard pacing, heavy breaths, indistinguishable whispers, the creaking of a chair. Outside, leaves rustled.

The more Chloe rushed her body to regain its senses, the slower it went. She forced herself to lie still and breathe. The slowness with which she regained consciousness nearly drove her mad, and on top of that, she regained her sight last. Finally, after over an hour, Chloe was able to open her eyes.

The brightness of the room meant that it took her tired eyes another five minutes to adjust before she could let them wander. The smell of antiseptic and the sheer quietness of her surroundings made Chloe guess that this was a hospital room, and now she could confirm it. She was lying next to a window, whose view was entirely obscured by a massive tree. Everything was white. The floor was linoleum. There were needles in her hand. Chloe lifted it up for closer inspection.

There was movement at the foot of her bed and the sound of furniture hitting the wall, but Chloe couldn’t turn to look. She didn’t have to, because suddenly Sam Drake was squatting at her side, brown eyes wide in absolute disbelief.

“Chloe?”

She had to swallow a few times, and the silence drew unbearably tense, until she finally managed to croak, “Yes?”

Sam Drake leapt out of the room at a speed that astonished and dizzied Chloe, and his loud, thudding footsteps made her bed shake. He was screaming for Nadine. The footsteps and voices subsided, until they returned with double the vigour, like a hoard of buffalos charging directly at Chloe. She still had her back to the door, but she heard Nadine burst in and assume the position Sam had been in seconds earlier. Her hair was wet, her eyes were bloodshot; she looked absolutely miserable.

“You’re awake.” The words were spoken in total awe, as if Nadine had been fearing that she would never be able to say them out loud again and this was her chance. She reached out to take Chloe’s hand, but stopped herself at the last second and patted her leg through the blanket instead. “I thought you were dead.”

“Nonsense.” Chloe whispered. “That wasn’t part of our deal.”

Nadine broke into a wide smile as tears pooled in her eyes. She bit her lower lip hard and sank onto the ground, leaning against the wall, smoothing her hair back. Nadine Ross blinked furiously to stop herself from crying.

“You’re hurt.” Chloe said, noticing the massive yellowish bruise under Nadine’s right eye, and all the little cuts and scrapes that had begun to scab and heal. “You should be more careful.”

“Oh, I could punch you right now…” Nadine shook her head, failing to supress a wide grin. Her gaze caught on Sam, who had let himself down next to her. She struck his arm with full force.

“OW! What the hell?!”

“I leave for a split second and she wakes up?! What, did you know she was going to wake up and send me out so that she would see your ugly face first?!”

“Yes, I obviously-” Nadine raised her fist threateningly and Sam backed off. “No, no, of course not. Besides, I came running for you, didn’t I?”

Nadine grumbled something and then fixated her gaze back on Chloe, whose body hurt from laughing. The three of them sat in silence, Chloe growing increasingly uncomfortable under Nadine and Sam’s persistent stares. They watched her with such awesome diligence, absolutely fixated on Chloe’s open eyes that Chloe began to wonder just how unlikely she had been to ever wake up.

“How long have I been out for?”

“Three days,” Nadine said, nervously fussing with the sheets. “We’re in France.”

“Cool,” Chloe mumbled. “Always wanted to go there.”

Sam got to his feet with a grunt. His orange and red Hawaiian shirt was faded and worn, but the colours were still bright enough to hurt Chloe’s eyes. “I’m going to tell a doctor she woke up.”

Chloe and Nadine watched each other in silence, each absorbed in the assessment of the other’s wounds. Mustering all the strength she had, Chloe held out a shaking hand for Nadine to hold, which she did without missing a beat.

*

They kept her on a lot of pain medication, so Chloe spent most of her time sleeping. When she did wake, doctors would bustle in and shine lights into her eyes, change the dressings on her wounds, sometimes they even wheeled her out. Nadine watched the whole procedure anxiously. She sat on the edge of her chair, picking at the nailbeds of her fingers until they stung and bled, always looking to make eye contact with Chloe. Sometimes it would take minutes, other times hours, until all IVs had been refilled and all injections administered and the doctors finally left. By then, Chloe was drained and could barely maintain a conversation, a problem aggravated by all the drugs she was on.

Nadine didn’t care. After staring at her lifeless body for seventy-two hours straight, any exchange of words she could have with Chloe, no matter how incoherent, elated her. She spent her time waiting for her to wake up, unable to get herself to do anything else. Sam stopped by twice a day to supply her with food, sometimes even a newspaper, which Nadine didn’t bother trying to read. When her muscles cramped from the uncomfortable bed she had constructed out of two armchairs, she would aggressively exercise inside the room until she felt lightheaded. Sam always left whenever Nadine suddenly dropped and did uninterrupted push-ups. The fact that she had missed Chloe waking up because of a shower meant that Nadine decided not to shower anymore.

On the eighth day since the incident at the museum, Nadine found herself listlessly stirring a container of yoghurt in the empty hospital cafeteria. She didn’t play with her food unless she felt unobserved. It was 4 a.m., and the lights were off for the night, but Nadine carried her own portable LED lantern. She picked up the spoon and watched the yoghurt drip back into the container. Nadine leaned her head back and held the spoon over her open mouth, her preferred way to eat yoghurt since she was a child. Some of it hit her upper lip and threatened to run into her nostril, but she caught it with her tongue.

“Now I never-”

The spoon made a dull noise as it hit Sam’s forehead. “Jesus Christ, Ross!”

“Don’t sneak up on me like that.” Nadine got up with the lantern, which cast wild shadows as it swung. “What do you want?”

Sam grabbed a stack of napkins to wipe his face with. He let his horrendous yellow and green shirt fall back to reveal two pistols in his leather holster. “Care for a little shooting practice?”

He led her out to the lake that was an hour’s walk from the hospital. Nadine only let him pick the location because he swore to forget what he had seen earlier. The sun was rising over the cliff walls that framed one half of the lake, which bore hand drawn targets. They stepped out into the clearing and Nadine pushed the hair out of her face. She was on the verge of commenting on the beauty of the scene before she remembered whose company she was in. Instead, Nadine fired a shot.

They both emptied several rounds in silence. Nadine toyed with the thought of saying something that insinuated a sense of thankfulness for this outing, when Sam kicked her into the lake.

“DRAKE!” She aimed her gun at him, but Sam calmly tossed a bar of soap and a shampoo bottle into the water. “What the hell?!”

“You stink, Ross,” he took his sunglasses off and cleaned them on the edge of his shirt. He nudged the backpack he was carrying with his boot. “I packed you a change of clothes and a towel. It’s a good thing you don’t have a very diverse wardrobe.”

Nadine shot at his feet, but Sam didn’t flinch. He waved away the dust with his hand, stifling a cough. “You’re a dead man.”

Sam shrugged, “Take your time.”

And with that, he left.

Nadine stood fuming in the knee deep water, still clutching the gun. She only resigned herself to her fate when Sam’s footsteps had completely vanished. On her way to the deeper end of the lake, Nadine stripped of her clothing, plotting her revenge as she soaped up her arms. The anger at the unpleasant surprise quickly gave way to an odd sense of calm as she floated on her back, eyes trained on the foliage above her, whose gaps revealed an orange sky tinged with pink. She felt herself relax for the first time since Chloe and she had left that pub in London.

The past week had been hell, but Nadine didn’t let herself delve into it. It felt wrong to think of so much anguish and pain in a place this peaceful. Besides, she was still heavily in denial about how much Chloe’s near death experience affected her. Nadine closed her eyes to it all.

She’d bring Chloe here once she could walk, she thought. Chloe would like this place.

*

By the time Nadine got back, it was seven in the morning, and Chloe had been propped up into a sitting position for the first inspection of the day. When she walked in, the lanky, red-headed, acne-prone doctor was busy shining a light up Chloe’s nostril, muttering words in French, which his assistant scribbled down with unnecessary fury. The pudgy blonde nurse, the one who tended to Nadine when they first arrived, was drawing blood into little vials. Nadine sat down in her nest and watched the scene unfold as she rubbed a towel against her still damp hair.

“Hey there, china,” Chloe said, before being shushed by the doctor. She winced as his otoscope moved. “Can’t wait for the drugs to kick in.”

“You shouldn’t be talking.”

Chloe tried to laugh, but a wooden tongue depressor was jammed into her mouth as soon as she opened it.

The blonde nurse was the only one to acknowledge Nadine’s presence as she half turned to her while refilling Chloe’s IVs. She gestured at her stomach and began stammering in broken English, “How you… your… is you- _putain, comment est-ce qu’on dit coup de couteau en anglais_?”

The other nurse looked up from her clipboard with a quizzical expression. “Cutting? Knife cutting? _J’ai aucune idée_.”

“It’s alright,” Nadine intervened, who could guess what the nurse was referring to. She lifted her shirt to show the healing scar. It didn’t even require dressing anymore. “It’s good. Uh… _bien. Ne pas problème_.”

The two nurses squinted at the fading wound with professional coolness, before nodding and smiling at Nadine’s attempted French. The doctor finished examining Chloe’s mouth and withdrew the wooden spatula. He looked her head over once more, glanced at the IVs, and patted the matrass. He said something in French which Nadine knew meant that he’d be back tonight, and the three of them left the room with the medical cart carrying old dressings and syringes. The door closed and it was deathly silent.

“Jesus Christ, you think they’d be gentler in a private hospital,” Chloe sighed. “I don’t even want to know how much money you’ve paid for him to make me gag on his wooden stick twice a day.”

“The money pays for privacy, not service, I’ve discovered.” Nadine took off her boots and took the place previously occupied by the doctor. Instinctively, she reached out and touched Chloe’s knee. “How are you?”

“Well, all my pain medication has worn off and I have a gunshot wound in the back of my head.” Chloe pushed strands of hair out of her grey eyes, which, although tired, still had a devilish twinkle to them. She put her hand on top of Nadine’s. “Never been better.”

“This stuff will hit you pretty fast,” Nadine pulled her hand out from under Chloe’s to point at the yellowish liquid in one of the bags. Chloe’s touch had suddenly become unbearably hot. “Just give it a minute.”

Chloe, having noticed Nadine’s rapid withdrawal, searched her face for a betraying blush. “I’m sorry I’ve been such piss poor company this past week. You must be getting bored.”

“Not your fault you got shot.” Nadine tucked her legs in; she sat crossed legged, not quite knowing where to keep her gaze. “You’re healing remarkably fast.”

“I’ve got nothing else to do.” Chloe smiled so that the right corner of her mouth rose higher than her left. The lopsided smile created a pull inside Nadine, and she knew it. “I see Sam fulfilled his plan of getting you to wash.”

“You knew about that?”

“Oh good, so that wasn’t a dream.” She leaned back and closed her eyes, her brows slowly furrowing. “I had a weird, vague memory of him talking about luring you into a shower, which was… strange.” she chuckled.

“He pushed me into a lake.”

“I remember getting pushed into bodies of water,” Chloe said teasingly. She was starting to feel tired and light-headed; the pain was subsiding. She wouldn’t be conscious for that much longer. “Promise me you won’t bore yourself to death waiting for me to get better.”

“You think that I spend my days sitting around waiting for you?”

“Tell me I’m wrong.”

“You’re wrong,” Nadine said, relieved that she could see Chloe’s eyes begin to glaze over. It was easier to lie to her like this. “I keep a very busy schedule.”

“Well then I hope I don’t take too much time out of your day.” Chloe groped around blindly on the table next to her bed before handing Nadine her phone. “Here. Tell me what’s going on in the world.”

Chloe demanded to be kept up to date with the news, even if she didn’t retain a quarter of the information. Nadine sighed and began to read an article on the change in agricultural production in the US, purposefully having picked the most irrelevant and dull article at her disposal. Chloe didn’t really want to be kept up to date. This was her way of asking to be read to sleep.

But when Nadine glanced over the edge of the screen halfway through the article, Chloe was still awake. She found herself being studied by that set of wide, bright eyes, which slowly travelled across her face. Chloe’s lips moved slightly, as if she were whispering something to herself.

“Everything alright?”

“Did I thank you? For what you did? I must have thanked you.”

Nadine was taken aback. The thought had never crossed her mind. “No need to.”

“Oh, come on. Let me thank you for this. You saved my life.”

“It’s what partners do,” Nadine shrugged, secretly enjoying the intensity with which Chloe seemed to want to thank her. “You’d do the same for me.”

“Yeah, and then I’d expect a big fat thank you from you. Obviously.”

“Obviously,” Nadine repeated, smiling. “Well then, you’re welcome.”

Chloe rolled her eyes in despair. “Not like this. I have to take you out for dinner, buy you a car, something big. How would you like a monkey?”

“It’s really not necessary, Frazer,” Nadine insisted, returning her gaze to the phone, trying to find an impossibly mundane article to put Chloe to sleep.

Chloe sighed exasperatedly, and her breath sent more strands of long black hair flying into the air. “I wish you didn’t look this good refusing favours. Especially _my_ favours.”

Nadine said nothing. She felt goose bumps spring to life along her spine, but she fixated her gaze on the bag of sedatives that were being pumped into Chloe. The drugs were making her say things, it didn’t mean anything.

“Here, help me get up,” Chloe flung out an arm, but Nadine tucked it back to her side.

“You can’t get up.”

“Alright, then you come closer. I have a secret to tell you.”

“Frazer, we’re alone in this room. Just say it out loud.”

“Could you just humour me? I was on the brink of death,” Chloe pleaded childishly, but with a mischievous smile. “Come, come closer.”

Unwilling to lean over her, Nadine got off the bed and walked up to Chloe’s head, stooping down until their faces were level. Chloe reached out and placed her hand on the left side of Nadine’s face, silently in awe at how close their faces were. Nadine swallowed hard to regain her voice, unable to look anywhere but Chloe’s lips, fully aware that she should not be leaning in this close.

“Frazer, what-”

But Chloe silenced her with her lips, and Nadine did nothing to stop it. She saw them come closer, and instead of pulling away, she closed her eyes and braced for impact. It was only a few seconds before Chloe had to pull away and sink back into her pillows, but Nadine felt as though her skin had been doused in gasoline and set on fire. She was so dumbfounded by what had happened that she didn’t watch the words that slipped out of her mouth.

“That’s not how I imagined our first kiss to go.”

“So you HAVE thought about kissing me!” Chloe said triumphantly, and far too loudly for Nadine’s liking. “Oh, Christ, what a relief! And here I was thinking you might be asexual.”

Nadine couldn’t help but laugh. “You are so high.”

“High?” Chloe placed her index on Nadine’s nose. “High on _loooove_ , maybe.”

“God, that makes it worse.” She straightened up and took a few steps back. “Go to sleep, you won’t remember any of this by the time you wake up.”

“Oh, I’ll remember it all, love. Every last bit of it.”

“Sure you will.”

She didn’t. And Nadine thought it best to do the same.


	4. Liability

* * *

It was past midnight, and she was bored. French television at this time of day was unbearably boring, and looking at screens as a whole still gave her migraines, which also eliminated her phone as a source of entertainment. Chloe let her eyes wander across the ceiling and sighed. She was tempted to turn on her bedside lamp and read, but Nadine was a notoriously light sleeper, and would surely wake up. It wouldn’t be fair to interrupt her sleep just for a little bit of late night chit-chat, especially now that Nadine had finally started to sleep through the night again.

She let her arms fall down on either side of the bed, and the fingertips of her left hand grazed the top of Nadine’s backpack. They wrapped themselves around the handle, and Chloe slowly pulled it over to her side, much slower than needed be, but after three weeks of criminal inactivity, she didn’t quite trust her thieving skills. She lifted it into the air, and let it sink onto her lap, where she assessed it before continuing.

Four compartments with zippers that would sound like chainsaws in this silence. Three pockets along the outside lined with Velcro, which was worse. Oh well, at least it would keep her busy for a while.

Chloe didn’t know what she was expecting to find, but she was disappointed. A neatly folded change of clothes, two pistols and ammunition, a good amount of stolen hospital supplies, a burner phone, a stack of cash, and a big bag of MREs. Chloe audibly gagged as she lifted that last one out for inspection. She considered tossing it out the window, but she didn’t want to be told off for going through Nadine’s stuff when she found something to be missing. Chloe was close to giving up on the bag until she unzipped the last compartment and pulled out the artefact.

She held her breath as the gold glinted in the dim light from the street lamps outside. It dawned on her that she had barely thought about what had happened at the museum the whole time she had been there. Granted, Chloe had been unconscious for most of her stay, but even now that she was spending more time awake than asleep, the topic hadn’t been touched. Which was strange, given that it was the sole reason they were all here. Why didn’t Nadine talk about it?

It didn’t scare her to look back; there was no mental blockade that stopped her from accessing the memory. After all, it worked out, didn’t it? They had left the bathroom together, hand in hand, and Chloe remembered hoping that Nadine wouldn’t let go too soon. She didn’t, having seemingly forgotten that their fingers were intertwined, not until they heard footsteps from the exhibition room in which the artefact was kept. They broke apart and assumed position on either side of the entrance, waiting, guns loaded. But even then Chloe couldn’t focus on the task at hand for too long, she was getting distracted by the sight of Nadine silently counting. Her lips were pouted and slowly moving; it was borderline hypnotic.

The people in the next room, who had been standing still for quite a while, suddenly broke into a run, and Nadine changed her stance, which Chloe mirrored. They tripped their rivals, who turned out to be the two men from the gala that had been on their phones the whole time and Chloe’s source of envy. The bag one of them was carrying slipped out of his hand and slithered over the well-polished floor to the other side. There seemed to be no doubt about what it contained.

The men were armed too, and the skirmish that ensued on the race to the backpack blurred in Chloe’s memory. She remembered getting there first and receiving firm instructions from Nadine to run for it. Nadine had pinned down one of them, choking him between her thighs while she tried to reach for the gun she’d lost in combat. The other man was hot on Chloe’s heels, and she managed to kick him square in the chest before turning around and breaking into a sprint. The shot rang out just as she reached the end of the stairs and had sighted the bathroom they had come from. She had already made a plan – she knew where she was going to dump the bag and how she was going to run back in to get Nadine – when it all went black.

What happened after that Chloe pieced together from her own hazy memories and things Nadine let slip. She was intensely secretive about the journey from London to where they were now, deep in one of the forests of Normandy. They had gotten into a cab and driven to a train station, where the on-duty paramedic treated her (at gunpoint, apparently), before Nadine hauled her into a cargo train that was bound for France. Sam picked them up at some point and drove them here. And before all that – somehow – Nadine acquired the artefact, which was now growing warm under Chloe’s touch.

Excitement bubbled up inside her, and Chloe was suddenly very sick and tired of the narrative only revolving around her, although it had been fun. She was better now; she could walk, talk, eat, go to the bathroom, it was time to return to the task at hand. Besides, Chloe seriously doubted that they could afford a much longer stay at this hospital.

She threw caution into the wind and turned on her lamp, digging in her drawers for the books she had brought with her. Something about this golden contraption seemed familiar, Chloe felt like she had seen the etchings on the side with all the needles before. It must have been an image in one of these books. A painting, decorations on a temple… She flipped through the pages furiously. God, it felt good to do something. Her fingers stopped dead on one of the illustrations.

It was a map.

A map of central Mexico, to be exact. It wasn’t as precise as the one in Chloe’s book, but then again, the Aztecs didn’t exactly have access to aerial footage of their empire. Chloe went back and forth between the two maps, confirming that they were in fact one and the same. But what did these needles have to do with it?

Chloe tried moving one of them, and she was able to rotate it about the map while it emitted a soft clicking noise. She moved the needles around absentmindedly as she studied the image in her book, trying to make sense of it. Each needle must be pointed at something, but what? She tried to make them all point at cities, but there were too many needles and too few cities for this to work. The only other thing her map included were little stars to denote a temple or a burial site, but there were at least thirty of those and she only had a dozen needles to work with.

She sighed and looked at the clock. It was 2:18 a.m., and to her great surprise, Nadine was still fast asleep, although whatever she was dreaming made her brows quiver. By now Chloe was wide awake and had no excuse as to why she shouldn’t spend the next three hours decoding this device, so she set to work. The idea of waking up Nadine with a new lead was nothing if not incentivising.

*

Nadine woke up at 6 a.m. sharp, to the sight of Chloe sitting cross-legged on her bed, balancing a tray with scrambled eggs and a cup of tea on her knees. She grinned widely as she shovelled another forkful of rubbery eggs into her mouth.

“Morning, partner.”

“Frazer,” she sat up and stretched, suspicious of this reception. “You’re up early.”

Chloe shrugged. “I’m just excited.”

Nadine got to her feet, hesitant about commencing her morning exercise routine with Chloe watching her so intently, and with such an amused expression. It was the same expression her brother wore before playing some kind of prank on her. But it was also obvious that Chloe was out to get a reaction from Nadine, intrigue her, make her ask questions. And she was not about to give in so easily.

She went into the bathroom, checked the toilet for cellophane, and changed into her exercise clothes. When Nadine came out, Chloe was still in the same position, but instead of the breakfast tray, she was holding the artefact. Nadine stopped in her tracks.

“You went through my bag?”

“Before you get mad, I didn’t touch your MREs.”

“That’s not what I was worried about,” Nadine said, taking the bag into her hands. She began to refold and reorganise the contents.

“I didn’t dig up your big dark secret, don’t worry. I only took this,” she held up the golden square so that it caught the sunlight. “And look what I made it do.”

Nadine leaned in closer and watched Chloe push one of the needles back into place. There was a sound similar to that of a lock releasing, and the jade stone set in the middle of the artefact came loose. Chloe set the golden frame aside and held the oblong object in her palms. There was a fine line running just along the centre of it, and suddenly Chloe pulled the two halves apart. She reached into the hollow stone and retrieved a coin, which she held out to Nadine.

“Like a Kinder Surprise Egg,” she said as she inspected the coin.

Their eyes met, and Chloe looked at her incredulously. “Yes. It’s _exactly_ like a Kinder Surprise Egg.”

Nadine shrugged and continued to twirl the coin between her fingers. “Why go through so much trouble to hide this?”

“I think it’s telling us the location for the treasure,” Chloe took the coin from her. “See this engraving? It’s a rabbit.”

“So?”

“The city of Tuxpan in Mexico got its name from the Nahuatl phrase ‘tochtli-pan’, which means ‘place of rabbits’.” Chloe was grinning from ear to ear at this point. “What do you say?”

Nadine looked her over. Chloe looked frail in her black slacks and the baggy white shirt, which basically turned see-through if the light hit it just right. The bandages around her head had been taken off, but she was still hooked to IVs, and not being able to eat solids for weeks had made her face gaunt. And somehow she still managed to look vibrant and full of energy. Chloe’s enthusiasm almost clouded Nadine’s judgement.

“You are in no shape to fly out to Mexico,” she said finally.

“I wasn’t thinking of leaving right now, but next week-”

“Not even next week. You’re not ready yet.” Nadine gathered up the components of the artefact and put them back together, but Chloe kept the coin. “You can barely go for a walk around the park without having to sit and rest, your body can’t take that much exertion.”

“You worry too much,” Chloe answered as she got up and opened the windows. “I’ll be fine, I’ll take it slow.”

“There’s no taking it slow on these jobs, Frazer. There’s obviously people who are after this treasure as well, and you won’t survive a second shot to the head.”

“Alright then, what do you propose we should do?” Chloe sat down on the ledge of the open window and studied Nadine’s face. She looked resolute, but Chloe was a very convincing person.

“Sell the information, wait for you to regain your forces, and then find something else.” Nadine put it very plainly. She rolled her weights out from under Chloe’s bed and began to do bicep curls. Chloe wondered if that was a tactical move to distract her.

“Nadine, it took me _months_ to find this job; there’s no telling how long it will take me to find the next one. And I’m tired of just sitting around, I need to do something.”

“And you think it might be worth dying over?” Nadine said without lifting her gaze from her arm.

“Who knows?” Chloe shrugged. She continued to spin the coin between her fingers.

Nadine set down her weights and shook her head. “I’m not going to Mexico with you, Frazer, not while you’re in this shape. It would be foolish. And dangerous.”

Chloe snorted, “You’re acting as though danger was a rare thing to come across in this line of work.”

“It isn’t, and that’s exactly why I tend to avoid unnecessary risks.”

“Fine, don’t come to Mexico with me then. I’ll go by myself.”

Nadine chuckled as she did push ups. “And how are you going to pay for it? This whole place isn’t exactly cheap.”

“I have been able to make do without money plenty of times,” she answered, slowly feeling the anger rise. Nadine did not react to her threat the way she had wanted her to, and it was starting to make her feel insecure. “You can stop acting like my guardian now, I am perfectly capable of assessing my own strengths and weaknesses. If I say I can make it to Mexico, no problem, I can make it to Mexico. _No problem_.”

“Your ego is making you irrational.”

“My ego is not- could you _please_ stop exercising while I am trying to talk to you?!” Chloe snapped and Nadine obliged begrudgingly. “Thank you. What is the matter with you? Have you gone soft? If you’re worried about having to protect me, don’t. I’ll be fine on my own.”

“Excuse me for not wanting to trudge around Central America with a massive liability holding me down.” Nadine got up and dusted off her hands. She was no longer humouring her.

“Oh, so that’s it? I’m a liability now.” That stung.

“In this state, yes. And I am not keen to break off a mission and rush you to a hospital yet again.”

“For your information, I did not ask you to do any of this.” She gestured around the room, but their eyes remained locked. “You did this, out of your own free will.”

“So I was meant to leave you to die then. Ja, makes sense.” Nadine ran her fingers through her hair. “Do you hear yourself?”

“You are acting like this is a big deal. We’ve almost died hundreds of times before, and it didn’t hold us back from pushing on. Why is this time different? Why are you being so stubborn?”

“Are you seriously angry that I care about your well-being?” she laughed disbelievingly.

“You are being overbearing and you know it,” Chloe jammed her index into Nadine’s chest. “I thought keeping personal and professional apart was your specialty.”

“And just what is that supposed to mean?” Instead of swiping her hand away, Nadine leaned into it. Chloe opened her mouth to respond, but then decided against it. She bit her cheek until she drew blood. “That’s what I thought. Because there is _nothing_ personal between you and me.”

“Oh please, you don’t believe that.”

“Ja, I do.” Nadine grabbed her bag. “So I _professionally_ decline your offer of going to Mexico. Call me when you have something that might be of interest to me.”

She turned on her heels and made for the door.

“You are so childish. Don’t you walk away – no, you know what? Go. Fuck it, I have no use for you either.”

But none of it stopped Nadine leaving, and she slammed the door hard enough for Chloe to fear that it would come off its hinges. It didn’t and the room grew deathly silent.

Sam poked his head in a few minutes later before fully entering the room. He held a paper coffee cup in each hand, and pushed his sunglasses back onto his head to take in the atmosphere.

“Trouble in paradise?”

Chloe didn’t have the energy to respond to his comment.


	5. Assumptions

* * *

It wasn’t the shabbiest plane she had ever been on, but it rattled just enough for her to get a migraine. She leaned her head against the emergency exit door and tried to go to sleep. She and Sam had been up and about since Friday morning, and it was now Sunday afternoon. They had been on two trains, two airplanes, and three different continents, but no beds. The time to rest was now, in the four hours that remained before they touched down in Mérida and had to jump into the next best 4x4. Chloe doubted that a road trip across Mexico was going to be gentler on her head than this cargo plane. Still, she couldn’t sleep.

She opened her eyes and glanced over at Sam, who was eating sunflower seeds and spitting the shells out the open window. He looked like he was born to wear the helicopter headset/sunglasses combo. Sam caught her gaze and offered the bag up to her, but Chloe declined.

“Can’t sleep?” He asked.

She shook her head.

“We’ll spend the night in Mérida. I’ll get us a nice hotel and you can knock back some of those pills you got. Might even be kind enough to share.” He raised his eyebrows suggestively.

“You can have them all, I’m sick of drugs,” Chloe replied. She stared straight ahead, at the back of the pilot’s head. Below them was a sea of clouds.

“Hey, Sam?”

“Yes, Chloe?”

“Do you think she’ll be there?”

Her heart sank when he did not reply with an immediate yes, but that was hardly realistic. She watched him intensely as he debated his answer.

“I think she’ll be there, but… I wouldn’t be surprised if she wasn’t. You sent her all the details and everything, right?”

“I did.”

“Did she respond?”

“No.”

“I see. Well…” He popped another handful of seeds into his mouth. “She could still show up later, in Tuxpan. There’s really no telling with that woman.”

Chloe nodded in agreement and slumped back into her seat. She had mulled their fight over so much that she didn’t know what to feel anymore. Being the stubborn dickhead that she was, she couldn’t admit being in the wrong. She could admit that she had been testing, a little extreme even, but not that she was wrong. Chloe crossed her arms in front of her chest and sighed. Really the only thing she could conclude was that she felt regret.

“I’m sorry for being nosy, but did you guys break up?”

Chloe turned around sharply. “What?”

“Or is this just a little dip in your relationship?” He was about to empty the rest of the bag of seeds into his mouth when the co-pilot reached around and very resolutely shut the window. He barked something in Spanish, and Sam was forced to hand him the remaining seeds. “So?”

“There was nothing to break up, we’re not together,” Chloe placed her feet on the empty seat between her and Sam. “Did you think we were?!”

“Well, _yes_ ,” the tone of his voice implied that it would have been foolish of him to do otherwise. “I just assumed that after India, you two…” His voice trailed off, giving way to a suggestive silence.

“Well, we didn’t. We actually didn’t see each other again until I brought this job to her a couple of weeks back.”

“Oh, I see.”

But Chloe wasn’t sure what exactly it was that he saw.

“I’m sorry, by the way, if I made you uncomfortable.”

“Oh, don’t be ridiculous,” she waved his concerns aside. It actually excited her a little to think that others mistook them for a couple. Not that they would now, anyways.

Chloe managed to maintain a state of half-consciousness for the duration of the flight. When they touched down, though, her stomach was knotted twice over. They stepped off the plane and thanked the pilots in broken Spanish for the lift, who paid little attention. Chloe and Sam stopped being of interest to them once the bribe had been paid.

She waited in the airport café while Sam made inquiries at the car dealership. They had landed early. There were still twenty minutes left until eight p.m., which was when Chloe told her they’d be there. She stirred her coffee nervously, with no intention of drinking it. It began to grow cold.

Sam took his time haggling at the counter. He wasn’t keen on joining Chloe in her anxious wait, and she didn’t seem to want company either. The dealer and him entered a friendly screaming match for thirty minutes, which only came to an end when Chloe joined, looking desperate to leave. Sam took the proposed price then and there, and the pair left. The sky was darkening in preparation for the sunset.

“So? Hotel?” They were on their way to entering the city and Sam had replaced the sunflower seeds with a toothpick. “Chloe?”

“Huh?”

“Hotel?”

She was staring straight ahead at the road, holding her hair back with one hand. The orange lighting made her skin glow. Her eyes glanced over and her previous look of melancholy was replaced with a sly grin.

“Only if we share a room.”

“Seeing as our current travel funds are at a cool forty dollars, I don’t think that we can afford anything else.”

“Then it’s settled.”

*

It was not even ten p.m. when Chloe crawled onto the bed, absolutely exhausted after spending over two days on her feet. Sam was flipping through television channels shirtless, with a toothbrush hanging out the corner of his mouth. There were bags under his eyes too, and Chloe didn’t quite understand why he busied himself with the TV so much when it was clear that they would both fall asleep immediately.

“Aha! How would you enjoy a nice, juicy telenovela? This one is called… Tears of passion.”

“Sounds good to me.” She crawled under the covers and bunched the pillows up underneath her head. There was no way this room was within their price range, but Chloe had accepted that they wouldn’t be paying for everything on this trip. The smell of clean linen and the white noise from the television were working their magic and Chloe found herself drifting off.

That is, until Sam poked her repeatedly in the arm.

“Hm?” Chloe muttered, cracking one eye open.

“Sorry, I just need to reassure myself that I’m not totally crazy.” He had propped himself up on one elbow and was looking at Chloe worriedly. “You do have feelings for Nadine, right?”

She closed her eyes and grinned. “And just what makes you think that?”

Sam snorted. “The flirting, the touching, the nicknames! I mean, all I get is ‘mate’, but she gets ‘china’ and ‘love’ and the whole nine yards.”

Chloe rolled from her stomach onto her side. “I’m sorry if you’ve been feeling left out, china.”

“Spare me with your pity,” he replied. “I have no interest in Nadine Ross’ sloppy seconds.”

Chloe made a grumbling noise and was overcome by fatigue once more. She was on the brink of falling asleep, when Sam made himself known again.

“Chloe?”

“Jesus Christ, yes, Sam?!” She threw her eyes open in exasperation, but she couldn’t quite hold back her smile.

“You didn’t answer my question.”

“I didn’t tell you you were wrong either.” She rolled over so that she was facing away from him.

“So that’s a yes?”

“Goodnight, Sam.”

“You’re into her.”

“ _Goodnight_ , Sam.”

“Alright, alright. Goodnight, Chloe.” The sheets rustled as he turned off the lights. “We’ll start working on getting you your girlfriend back tomorrow.”

She threw a pillow at him, but the comment had made both of them laugh.


	6. The Lagoon

* * *

Chloe struggled to read the map as it fluttered in the wind. It was dawning, and they were less than an hour away from Tuxpan. They were bound for the Tampamachoco lagoon, home to the _herichthys tepehua_ , the fish engraved on the other side of the coin. What they would do once they got there was still unclear. It wasn’t her main preoccupation; she had sent Nadine their location and was anxiously waiting for a reply. They hadn’t spoken in almost a week, and the more days passed, the less likely a reunion seemed.

“Try to catch some more sleep. I’ll wake you when we get close,” Sam said. His dull green shirt with white palm trees flapped about. He had wordlessly handed over the worn out jean jacket to Chloe when she could no longer hide the clattering of her teeth. The more apparent it became that she was not in top shape, the more sullen Chloe grew. It wasn’t just the medley of persistent aches and pains that soured her mood, but also the realisation that Nadine had been right. She was a liability.

“I got enough sleep.”

“No shame in needing more than five hours,” he glimpsed at her. “You don’t need to convince me that you’re tough, I already believe it.”

“I’m not trying to convince you that I’m tough,” Chloe rolled her eyes. “I’m not a child, I don’t need your approval.”

“If you say so,” Sam shrugged. “Then it can’t hurt to let you know that you have it. My approval, I mean.”

Chloe, who had woken up unusually irritable, fought back the need to snap at him defensively. He was trying to make her feel better and she realised that it would be unfair to Sam if he now had to suffer under her hurt pride too. The car suddenly came to a halt on a patch of dirt on the side of the highway. Sam got out.

“Well, if you’re not going to sleep, then I might as well just,” he opened her door and gestured at the empty driver’s seat. “What words did Nate use to describe you? Something about you being… hm. God, the title had quite the ring to it. You’re the greatest… no, the best-”

“The best driver in the business,” Chloe finished for him, and although she knew that Sam was only humouring her, it helped. She hopped behind the steering wheel and felt a surge of energy when she gripped it. It had been weeks. Chloe vowed to never let herself go so long without driving again. Her migraine cleared up as she sped down the highway.

*

The Tampamachoco lagoon stretched ahead of them, all the way into the ocean, the water reflecting the clouds in the overcast sky like a black mirror. They sat on the hood of the car, taking in the sight, eating the sandwiches they had bought at the only legitimate looking gas station they had passed on the way. The lagoon seemingly lay in the middle of nowhere, impossibly vast and deserted.

“And now?” Chloe wiped the crumbs from her mouth. She looked at Sam as he tried to light the cigarette in his mouth; his lighter was broken. He sighed and took the cigarette out, using it to point at a little motorboat tied to the shore a little ways off.

“I say we get in that and take it for a spin,” he said. “Let’s see if there’s any Aztec remnants we can find.”

The boat was easily untied and hotwired, and Chloe gently steered them through the overgrown lagoon. It was eerily quiet except for the gentle purring of the motor and the metallic sounds of Sam trying to fix his lighter. Chloe could tell from where she was sitting that it just needed a new spark wheel, but she kept it to herself. It was entertaining to watch him struggle to reassemble the lighter and his soft swearing kept the silence from becoming too oppressing.

They drove for an hour without seeing anything indicative of a long lost treasure. Sam had given up on his lighter and shoved it – partly assembled – deep into his pocket. His eyes were permanently squinted as he surveyed his surroundings. The heat and humidity was starting to get to them both; Chloe brushed the hair from her forehead and found it plastered to her skin with sweat. Sam was looking a little shiny too. He eventually pulled his shirt over his head and started to unlace his shoes.

“Making yourself comfortable?” Chloe asked.

“Doesn’t seem to be much for us above water,” he said, carefully rolling up his socks. “I’ve got some goggles in my bag, so I might as well go for a dive.”

“Smart,” Chloe conceded and began to unbutton her blouse.

Sam put his hand on hers. Chloe stopped.

“What do you think you’re doing?” he asked bemusedly.

“Trying to seduce you, obviously,” Chloe flicked Sam’s hand off her. “I’m getting into the water.”

“You are going to jump into swamp water with a healing gunshot wound?”

Sam stood up, causing the boat to rock, but he kept his balance as he stripped of his trousers and reached for his bag. Chloe watched him, shirt half unbuttoned, unsure what to do with herself. He lowered himself into the water; it came up to his chest and Sam grimaced from the cold as he wet his arms and hair to slide the goggles on.

“It’s not a swamp, it’s a lagoon,” Chloe mumbled, but Sam was already underwater.

She felt useless as she watched Sam dive and wade through the water, gasping as he came up for air. He made her turn off the motor and pulled the boat himself through the narrow passages. Chloe reached out and lightly touched the tender spot at the base of her skull where the bullet had struck her; her hair had been shaved to facilitate an operation and was growing back slowly. The doctors liked to express their amazement – in English and in French – about how lucky Chloe was to be alive and recovering. Had the bullet hit her even a fraction of a millimetre further up or down or left or right, she might be paralysed. Or blind. Or dead.

Chloe huffed and crossed her arms over her chest. She didn’t feel lucky. She felt like a liability. Nadine had got it right.

Sam kept swimming and diving and cutting through his way through the thicket as the sun made its way across the sky. He still japed and that half-smirk was impossible to wipe off, but Chloe wondered how much longer the good mood would last. They had been here for hours without so much as a hint that they were headed in the right direction. Chloe had also stripped of her shirt and was using it to mop her face when Sam suddenly thumped the side of the boat.

“Look what we have here!”

He held a slimy green object up for Chloe’s appraisal. She snatched it from his hands and inspected it, scraping the layer of algae off to reveal a dull grey metal.

“This is a cabasset,” she muttered. She looked up at Sam. “It’s the helmet the Spanish used at the start of the 16th century.”

“So they were here,” Sam said.

“They were here,” she echoed. “Keep searching, there might be more.”

“Yes ma’am,” he said and dove back under.

Sam tried his best, but the only other thing he found was a gold coin, barely two inches across in diameter and also covered in algae. Chloe scratched it off with her nails and they inspected it silently, in awe. She kept looking at it while Sam searched some more, one hand holding the coin, the other the artefact. Was this it? Is this were the treasure was? Were they just not looking hard enough?

Chloe toyed with the map, clicking its needles around, watching Sam as he grew red in the face and wondered out loud whether there was such a thing as saltwater leeches. The jade stone released and fell into her lap when the needles were in the right position, and Chloe looked at the hole it left. A hole about the same size as the coin.

“Sam,” she called. He stopped hacking through a low-hanging branch and turned around. “Sam, look.”

She took the coin and placed it into the centre of the artefact. It fit perfectly. Sam and her waited for something to happen, but nothing did. The lagoon was silent.

“What does that mean?” Sam asked quietly. Chloe set the artefact down and groaned.

“I don’t know!” she rubbed her forehead. “We know the conquistadors were here because we have their helmet. We know there was some sort of Aztec gold here because we have the coin. Did the Spaniards drop the treasure off here for safekeeping and the Aztecs beat them to it? Or did the Aztecs decide to hide the treasure here and the conquistadors found out and came for it? Does that mean that the treasure is still here, or that it’s been moved?”

Sam stared at her blankly.

“And then we have this thing,” Chloe pointed to the artefact, “found all the way in _Utah_ , out of all places, but which leads us to this lagoon here. I don’t know, Sam. I don’t know what this means.” 

“Take it easy, Chloe, we don’t have to figure it out right away.” Sam reached out to touch her arm, but Chloe pulled away.

“Don’t tell me to take it easy! I’m _fine_. Stop treating me like a liability!”

Sam frowned. “A liability? Where did you get that-”

“Forget it,” she snapped. “I don’t want to take it easy.”

“Alright, okay, don’t take it easy,” Sam granted. “But I’ve been in the water for so long that I’m starting to look like Sully, so if you don’t mind, I’d like to take a little break.”

Chloe said nothing. She chewed on her bottom lip and spun the artefact between her fingers. It didn’t make any more sense with the coin in place. It didn’t add anything new to the map or complete the image on the other side. Surely it couldn’t be a coincidence that it fit so perfectly, or could it? She sat facing away from Sam, feeling a little guilty about her outburst. He hadn’t done anything wrong except look at her like Nadine had back in France. She didn’t mind the worried expression, she welcomed it even – especially on Nadine. It was the pity she couldn’t stand. There was nothing to pity. She was _fine_.

“Heads up!” Sam said before hoisting himself back into the boat, but too late.

The sudden movement knocked Chloe forward and the artefact fell out of her hands, hitting the water almost soundlessly. The gold glittered before it disappeared.

“Sam! I – the artefact! It fell! Sam!” she stammered, pointing frantically.

Sam leapt back into the water – not before barking at Chloe to “stay right there” – and vanished under the surface. Chloe sat perched on the edge, watching anxiously. She felt stupid. How did she just _drop_ it?! That had never happened before, Chloe wasn’t a clumsy person. She held up her trembling hands to her face. When did they start to do that?

Sam resurfaced, but only long enough to take a deep breath and dive right back under. Her stomach was knotted. What if he didn’t find it? Chloe swung her leg out of the boat to go after him, but almost immediately tucked it back in. He was right; it was stupid of her to dunk a half-healed gunshot wound into murky lagoon waters. There was no need for Chloe to also get sepsis on top of everything else.

“I got it!”

Her head snapped up. Sam held the artefact in his outstretched hand.

“I’ve got it! It’s all good! It’s right here!”

He handed it to Chloe and pulled himself into the boat. She clasped it to her chest.

“Oh, you bloody hero! Come here,” she grabbed his face in her hands and kissed him. “You beauty, I _love_ you.”

Sam shook his head and leaned back, trying to catch his breath. “Ah, if only your heart wasn’t set on another.”

“Shut up,” Chloe said.

“We would have made a good couple.”

“Sadly, I limit myself to one Drake brother per lifetime,” she teased. “There’s only so much bullshit I can handle.”

Sam snorted. He grinned at her, but only for a second. His expression dropped.

“Chloe, the gold-”

The pointed at her chest, to the spot where Chloe had pressed the artefact. Gold flakes had come off the map and were stuck to her sports bra. Sam panicked and picked them off her, watching the gold leaf disintegrate in his hands. Chloe stopped him.

“Wait, look.”

Below the gold plating the artefact was bronze. She held it up closer for inspection and dunked it back in the water.

“What are you-”

“There’s something underneath here.”

The gold leaf washed off the side without the needles. The etchings of the faces and animals had disappeared and were replaced by yet another map. Chloe squinted. The back of the coin completed the image.

“That looks like Utah,” Sam said, taking the artefact from Chloe. He pointed at the oblong, amorphous blob on the upper left. “This could be the Great Salt Lake.”

“Then what would this be?” Chloe pointed at the coin.

“I think there’s a forest there, some national park.” Sam closed his eyes and snapped his fingers. “Um, something Wasatch something national forest. Unita? No, Uinta. Uinta-Wasatch National Forest. No, wait, there was a third word-”

“We’ll figure it out when we’re back-”

“Let me remember!” Sam insisted. He frowned. “Uinta-Wasatch… Uinta-Wasatch-Catch? Catch? No, Cache! Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest!”

“Well done, mate.” Chloe patted his arm.

Sam grinned; he took his shirt and used it to towel off. Chloe sat down next to the motor and started it. The boat slowly came to life.

“So is that our next stop? Utah?” he asked.

Chloe nodded.

“That’s a long drive,” Sam sighed. He took a cigarette out, only to return it to the pack sadly when he realised his lighter was still in shambles.

“Good thing you’re with the best driver in the business, then,” she said. She reached into her pocket and tossed Sam a box of matches. He stared at her incredulously.

“You’ve had these the whole time?!”

Chloe shrugged.

They left the boat where they had found it and got back in the car to head north. Sam fell asleep almost immediately and Chloe was left alone with her thoughts. She was going to tell Nadine about what they’d discovered; she had been itching to ever since the coin clicked into place on the artefact. It didn’t matter that her previous messages had gone unanswered and that Nadine hadn’t shown up at the airport, no matter how bad that stung. This would prove to her that Chloe was not a burden, but an asset. This time she’d answer. Chloe was sure of it.

The sky grew dark. Chloe found an abandoned barn off the highway and roughly shook Sam awake. A few birds took flight and some rats scurried away when they kicked the door open, but other than that, it was empty. Chloe set about starting a fire while Sam rolled out their sleeping bags.

“Ugh, I stink,” he complained. “I need to shower.”

“Not sure how soon that’s gonna happen, given our restricted budget,” Chloe said. She opened her bags and got out two packs of instant ramen. “Chicken or duck?”

“Surprise me,” Sam said. “We could stop by Nate’s, you know. They moved to Phoenix a few months ago because of the baby, to be closer to Elena’s parents and all that.”

“We could,” Chloe agreed. She hadn’t seen Nate in a long time, though they kept in touch, however fleetingly. It might be nice, she thought.

They ate their dinner and settled into their sleeping bags, Chloe moving hers onto the other side of the fire so she wouldn’t have to endure Sam’s stench. Or so she said. When Sam’s breathing slowed to a deep, steady rhythm, Chloe fished her phone out of her pocket. She pulled the sleeping bag over her head to avoid waking Sam with the light and diligently typed up the day’s events. She fell asleep with the phone clutched to her chest.


	7. Intruders

* * *

It was six a.m. in Cape Town. To most people, it was still night out, but Nadine sat at the dinner table in the kitchen, illuminated only by the screen of her computer. She held her hand over her coffee and felt the steam condense on her palm. She remembered Chloe’s chunky, noisy, decade-old laptop and smiled despite herself. Why did she find that so endearing? Chloe holding onto that thing was foolish, if anything.

Her phone lit up with a message from Chloe. Speak of the devil, Nadine thought. She picked it up and read the first line.

 _Hey, I know you don’t want to hear from me, but today we found_ -

That’s where it cut off. Nadine put her phone away, with the screen facing down, and continued to scour the internet for people she might hire to restore Shoreline. It was no use; either there were no suitable matches anywhere, or she was too distracted by Chloe’s message. _Today we found_ – today we found what? Nadine was curious, but she refused to turn her phone over and read on. She had made her bed by not showing up in Mérida, and now she felt she must lay in it.

It had been easy to walk away – at least at first, when she was still fuming at Chloe for being so stubborn and arrogant and delusional. But that anger did not last forever. By the time she was on her plane back home, Nadine grew uneasy. She knew Chloe would go ahead and travel to Mexico anyways; she was stubborn like that. Would Sam stick with her, or would he jump ship like she had? Even if he was accompanying Chloe, Nadine was not convinced he was good enough to protect her. But then again, who did she think was good enough? Besides herself, that is.

 _I know you don’t want to hear from me_ …

Nadine shut her laptop forcefully and took the coffee mug in her hands, eyes trained on her phone’s cover. She could read the message, just read it, nothing more. There was no need to reply. After all, she had managed not to reply to the one about meeting up in Mérida. That had been hard, though. Nadine wasn’t sure if she could hold back a second time.

Her stomach rumbled and she got up to ransack the fridge. Her mother had chewed her out for disappearing on them unannounced and then reappearing just as suddenly without any explanation, as though she weren’t a fully grown woman in her thirties. As a punishment, Nadine had to do the shopping for the month, and the fridge was well-stocked. Nadine took her time, pondering over the eggs and spinach and frozen strawberries.

There was a noise. Like a shoe brushing over the kitchen tiles. The fridge door was blocking her view, but she knew that it was too early for anyone in her family to be wearing shoes. She pulled her gun out of its holster and shut the fridge, aiming at the newcomer.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”

He was a small, skinny man, with almost comically large round glasses and a neat moustache. Nadine thought she had no need for the gun; she could snap him like a twig over her leg. He didn’t seem to have any weapons on him either.

“Why wouldn’t I?” she asked, unwavering, aiming right at a forehead obscured by shaggy black hair.

The man turned his head to face the hall and motioned for someone to come join him. Nadine stepped away from the fridge and pointed her gun at the door. Two more people came into the room – well, actually four. Her brother’s eyes were ripped wide open as he struggled against the person holding him, gun pressed to his temple. Her mother seemed limp with fear.

Nadine’s blood ran cold.

“What are you doing?” she said, alternatingly pointing her pistol at all three intruders. The man behind her mother only pushed the gun harder against her head, and she winced.

“Making sure you cooperate,” the man replied nonchalantly. He sat down on the edge of the kitchen table, hand outstretched. “Hand it over.”

“What do you want?” Nadine insisted.

“First, the gun,” he motioned with his fingers. Nadine was hesitant; the silence stretched. Suddenly her brother bit down hard on the hand wrapped around his mouth and the man yelped, reflexively releasing him. He tried to elbow him in the ribs, but the man caught his arm and twisted it hard behind his back. Isaac yelped and continued to fight him, uselessly.

“Shoot him,” the man said, calmly and without looking back. His henchman readied his gun.

“Here, here, stop,” Nadine tossed her weapon into the far corner of the room, holding up her hands. “Don’t shoot. Don’t.”

The man’s grey turtleneck was so tight, she could see his Adam’s apple move when he swallowed.

“Tell him to stop struggling.”

Nadine locked eyes with her brother. He had their father’s eyes, but she had never seen her father afraid. “Isaac, _please_ …”

He obeyed and his limps sagged.

Nadine turned to the small man.

“Who are you?” she asked, voice ripe with loathing.

“Doesn’t really matter,” the man shrugged. His accent was oddly neutral; she couldn’t place it. “Not in the grand scheme of things, anyways. What does matter is who you are.”

“I assume you know who I am,” she said.

“Oh yes,” he crossed his legs. “And I’m a fan. Well, not so much a fan as an… _appreciator_ of your work.”

Nadine said nothing. Her mother’s eyes were welling up.

“It was highly vexing the way you beat my men back in London,” he continued. “But I couldn’t help being impressed. You absolutely annihilated two of my very best employees – hand-picked for this very mission – and you did all on your own, too. Since they managed to take out your little friend.”

Nadine clenched her jaw.

“Of course, they didn’t really take her out. She’s made a full recovery and is now in Mexico, continuing the search for the treasure of Montezuma. But you… you aren’t with her. Now why is that?”

“Who _are_ you?” Nadine asked, borderline exasperated.

“Like I said, it doesn’t matter.” The man reached for her phone. “May I?”

She didn’t respond. He took the device in his hands and looked it over idly.

“What does matter, however, is that I have a client who is very keen on the treasure. _Very_ keen. And my client does not care how I procure it, as long as I do. Well, when I heard that you and Miss Frazer had gone your separate ways, I thought I might pay you a visit and see if I couldn’t get you to rejoin her and Sam Drake. But he isn’t exactly your favourite person in the world, now is he?”

The man smiled, although it looked more like a grimace. Nadine thought about wiping that smug expression off his face by smashing it into the corner of the table he was so delicately balancing on. Her mother shuffled and one of the men barked at her to stand still. Isaac looked defeated.

“Would you look at that, you have a message from her!” The man held the phone up to her. “Do you mind?”

Nadine entered her password.

“Thank you, now let’s see…” He readjusted the glasses on his nose. “ _Hey, I know you don’t want to hear from me, but today we found the spot the artefact led us to. The treasure must have been there at some point (it’s not anymore), but it did lead us to discover another map, and this time I think it’s the real deal. We will be in Salt Lake City in a few days. We’re onto something big here and I don’t want you to miss out.”_ The man chuckled and looked up from the screen. “That’s sweet of her, isn’t it?”

Nadine’s palms itched. She didn’t like hearing Chloe’s words out of his mouth; she took offense to it.

“But this is actually kind of perfect for us!” The man exclaimed. He set the phone back down onto the table. “You can rejoin them as our little spy. And as soon as you find the treasure, you just give us a ring.”

“And why would I do that?”

The man scoffed. He gestured at the scene behind him dismissively. “Do I really need to spell it out for you?”

Nadine rubbed her eyes. She could feel a migraine coming on. “If I get you the treasure, you will release them?”

“Of course.”

“What guarantee do I have that you will?”

He stood up from the table. “I guess you don’t have any. You’ll just have to trust me.”

She looked to her mother for approval, but she was staring at her blankly. Nadine thought it best not to look at Isaac; he was braver than he was smart.

“You won’t harm Chloe either?” she asked. “Or Sam?”

“I don’t see why I would have to, provided they give the treasure up willingly.”

Nadine suppressed a snide remark.

“And if they don’t?”

The man came up to her and patted her shoulder limply. “I think it’s best you see that they do.”

His hand moved down suddenly and grabbed her wrist, drawing her arm towards him. In his other hand he held a knife and he used it to make a quick, deep slice along Nadine’s forearm. She winced and tried to pull back, but the man was unexpectedly strong and held on. He held the wound open and dropped a small metallic square in it, before pressing it shut and bandaging her arm up. Nadine stared at it dumbfounded.

“This is a tracking device,” the man explained as he wrapped the gauze around with care, almost tenderly. “If you mess with it, I’ll shoot one of them.” He leaned in close to Nadine’s ear, so only she could hear. “I think I’d go for your brother first.” He tied a strong knot and stepped back.

The man picked up her phone and started to type. “Just making sure you can reach me when the time comes.” He handed her phone back. “I saved it under Nero. It’s not my real name, but I always thought it rather suited me, don’t you think?”

Nadine tucked her phone into her back pocket.

“Oh, and here.” The man reached into his inner coat and produced a bundle of bills, which he slid across the table to her. “This should cover everything quite nicely. Feel free to keep whatever is left over.”

With that, he waved for his men to march Isaac and his mother out. Nero bent over and picked Nadine’s gun off the ground. He inspected it and nodded.

“I’ll just take this. So you don’t get any ideas.” Nero smacked the gun against his open palm. “I think it would be best if you didn’t tell anyone about all this. I don’t want you to think you can try and outsmart me; it won’t end well.”

He saluted her and followed the hostages out. Nadine stood glued to the spot, horrified. It was not even twenty past six; the sky was still dark.


	8. Old Familiars

* * *

Chloe woke up to the sound of laughter. She had drooled in her sleep and her cheek was stuck to the damp pillow. After spending two nights in a row sleeping on the hard floor of abandoned buildings, it felt really good to lay on a proper mattress. She stretched out and found the spot beside her empty. She could hear Sam’s voice somewhere further off, through closed doors and walls. He was talking animatedly; someone shrieked. Probably the baby, Chloe thought, bunching the blankets up around her and dozing off again.

“Wakey, wakey, it’s lunchtime.”

Something grabbed Chloe’s hair.

“No, no, no. Don’t grab, just touch. Look, like this.” A hand shook her shoulder gently. It was joined by a much smaller, much stickier hand. “Good girl.”

Chloe opened her eyes to the sight of Sam – not in a Hawaiian shirt, for once – holding the baby up to her. The little girl babbled and grabbed a handful of her shirt.

“Easy there, tiger,” Chloe said, trying to pry the fabric out of the tiny fist. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and squinted at Sam. “What time is it?”

“One p.m., you’ve been asleep for thirteen hours. It’s high time you got up.” Sam plopped down on the edge of the bed and bounced his niece on his knee. He was positively radiant.

Chloe sat up and took a deep breath. The shades were drawn and the room was still dark, but pots and pans clanged in the kitchen and the hallway was bathed in light. It smelled delicious.

“What are they making?” Chloe asked.

“Elena’s whipped up some enchiladas, so come on,” Sam sprang up from the bed and Cassie squealed at the fast movement. He held his free hand out to Chloe. “They won’t be warm forever.”

Chloe took the hand and allowed herself to be hoisted to her feet. Sam clapped her on the back and together they walked down the hall.

“Look who finally woke up,” Sam introduced her. Nate and Elena, hunched over the oven, turned around to smile at Chloe.

She pulled out a chair at the set table and sat down. “Hello, yes, I’m alive.”

“Well, you’re just in time,” Elena said warmly. Sam placed the babbling Cassie in her high chair and took the seat to her right, trying to pry open the jar of baby food. Nate put the steaming enchiladas down in the centre of the table while Elena filled a jug with water. Chloe took the scene in silently. It was so… _domestic_. She watched Nate take off his purple oven gloves and toss them into a drawer. Never in a million years would she have pictured him as a stay at home father, and a happy one at that.

“Nice flat you’ve got,” she said, helping herself to the food. “I didn’t really see it much of it when we got here last night.”

“Thanks, we only just finished unpacking the last box. You should have seen the state it was in for the past month...” Elena replied. “Oh, and Sam. The next time you call saying you’ll be here ‘late’, please clarify that you mean midnight, not seven p.m.”

Sam shrugged, shoving another spoonful of orange mush into the baby’s mouth. “Midnight is late.”

“Sorry we just barged in on you like this; we won’t be in your hair for long,” Chloe apologised on both of their behalf.

“It’s not a problem,” Nate insisted, dishing out the salad. He used novelty salad servers, painted and shaped to look like clowns. “But I would like to know what you are up to.”

“Yeah.” Elena pointed her fork at them. “The two of you working together can’t be good. So spill. What are you after?”

Chloe looked to Sam for guidance. His grey-blue eyes bore into hers, and he shrugged. “Might as well. He won’t lend me his guns and grapple hook without a proper explanation anyways.”

“Alright,” she huffed, getting up from the table and returning with the artefact, her dying laptop, and a fold-out map of the Western United States.

*

The food was eaten, the dirty dishes stacked on one end of the table, and Chloe had only just finished explaining everything to Nate and Elena. They sat side-by-side, arms folded, staring Sam and her down with unreadable expressions like a judging panel. The baby had been put down for a nap. It was silent as they awaited their verdict.

“So you’re meeting up with Nadine tomorrow in Salt Lake?” Nate asked.

“Yes.” Chloe had left out the bit where her and Nadine had gotten into an argument, and that she had almost had to beg her to rejoin the mission. Sam cleared his throat when she said something vague about Nadine having to fly back home on short notice to take care of family business, but Nate and Elena did not seem to notice, and she kicked him in the shin discretely under the table. Her heart hadn’t stopped fluttering since she’d woken up to Nadine’s curt message saying that she would be there in Salt Lake.

“And you’re sure that this treasure is in this park?”

“Well, no, not _sure_ , but it’s definitely where we have to go next,” Chloe replied.

“But you’re positive that nobody’s been tailing you since London?”

“Yeah,” Sam said. “Nobody knows what we’re up to.”

Nate and Elena turned to look at each other. They seemed to be having a telepathic conversation, like only old couples could. Sam and Chloe held their breaths. She balled her firsts and prayed. _Please, please, please_ …

Nate looked up.

“Okay, we’ll give you-”

“ _What_?! Nate! No!” Elena exclaimed. Chloe grinned. Maybe they hadn’t quite mastered telepathy yet. “She got shot in the _head_ and was only just released from the hospital. We can’t let her go rock climbing in this state! Even if there’s no-one after them, it’s far too dangerous.”

Nate raised his eyebrows. “She has a point.”

“No, guys – Elena, I’m fine,” Chloe insisted. “Okay? I was in hospital for almost a _month_ and it’s all good now. I’ve been shot at before, my body is used to it.”

Elena frowned; she looked unconvinced.

“I’ve not done anything since India; everything kept falling through. I’m bored shitless. I need to do this. Please, Nate.” He would get it. He had to. “This one is a quick one. And I have Nadine and Sam to take care of me should anything go wrong.”

“ _If_ you let them take care of you,” he said. “You’re not exactly an easy patient.”

“To be fair, neither is anyone at this table.”Chloe shrugged. “Guys, I need this.”

Elena’s eyes softened. The sincerity in Chloe’s voice got to her. She got to her feet and started to clear the table.

“We’ll talk about this later.”

A few hours later, Elena kicked Sam and Chloe out to do the shopping for dinner, although it was clear that she only wanted them out of the house so that she could chew Nate out in private. He even offered to go with them to the store, trying to escape his fate, but Elena insisted he stay.

“Remember? You promised you’d help me clean the stove.”

Sam and Chloe made themselves scarce.

They did a little detour on their way back from the grocery store and sat down in a park with a pack of sunflower seeds that Sam would finally be allowed to finish.

“Think they’ll let us go?” Sam said, flicking the shells into the nearest bush with relish.

“I think they’ll realise pretty quickly that we’re still going to go, even if they tell us not to.”

She was right, that was the conclusion Nate and Elena had come to. They conceded their defeat over dinner and afterwards Nate took Sam to the cellar to have him pick out the gear. Sam sliced through the tape on cardboard boxes marked _SUPPLIES_ with his knife, and inspected various guns, grapple hooks, harpoon guns, and so on. Nate leaned against a dusty desk and watched his brother solemnly.

“This will all do nicely,” Sam concluded, dropping an extra rope into the duffel bag and zipping it shut. He turned around and saw the serious expression on his brother’s face. “What’s up?”

“How much longer are you going to be doing this for?” He asked. “When is it going to be enough?”

Sam sighed. “Someday, I guess. But not just yet.”

Nate smirked.

“Hey, why don’t you join?” Sam offered. He came closer to put his arm around Nate’s shoulders. “One last adventure? You won’t be gone for long, a week tops-”

Nate shook his head and disentangled himself from Sam. “No, I’m good. Really. Besides, I have a daughter now. I can’t go risking my life in the name of treasure anymore.” He crossed his arms. “Maybe you shouldn’t either.”

“Nate-”

“You’re her family too, you know. I’d like her to grow up with an uncle.”

Sam picked the stuffed duffel bag off the ground and grabbed Nate’s face, who fought his grip half-heartedly. “I’m not planning on letting Cassie grow up uncle-less. I promise we’ll be careful.”

Nate rolled his eyes. “Well, as long as you _promise_ -”

“Hey, give me some credit. I survived Panamanian jail, this is going to be a cakewalk-”

“Alright! Alright, you stubborn bastard.”

Upstairs, Chloe cradled a cup of tea in her hands on the terrace. She sat on a bench, surrounded by all sorts of potted plants, peering over high-rise buildings at the desert beyond. Her phone lay still in her pocket. Nadine had not bothered to contact her again since agreeing to come to Utah and although Chloe was unsure as to what mood Nadine would be in when they saw each other again, she was excited. Their fight had been a little hitch in the road, nothing more. Nadine must regret walking away from her, otherwise why would she bother rejoining? Chloe quite liked the idea of a regretful Nadine.

The sliding door behind her opened and Elena stepped out, cradling a sleeping Cassie in her arms. She let herself down beside Chloe with a sigh.

“I finally got her to pass out,” she said. “Nobody ever tells you how much upper body strength motherhood requires. My arms are sore.”

Chloe smiled. She looked at the baby and touched her little foot. “They’re cuter when they’re not conscious.”

“Definitely,” Elena agreed. “Do you want to hold her?”

“Oh no, I wouldn’t want to wake her,” Chloe said.

“Don’t worry, once she’s out, she’s _out_ ,” Elena insisted. “Here.”

She held the infant out and Chloe was forced to take her. Cassie stirred and her forehead wrinkled, but her eyes remained closed. Chloe let out the breath she was holding.

“So what really happened between you and Nadine?”

Chloe froze. “What do you mean? She had to go home-”

“I saw you kick Sam under the table, I know that story is bullshit,” Elena said with a sly smile. “Did you two break up?”

“Break up?!” Chloe repeated a little too loudly. The baby moved. “We were never together.”

“You weren’t?” Elena frowned. “But Sam told us-”

“Sam got it wrong. Nadine left because she thought I was a liability." She sighed. "She didn't think it would be a good idea for her to go trudging around Mexico with me. That's what it was, not really anything exciting. We’ve never dated.”

Elena tried to catch Chloe’s eye, which was trained on the tiny teddy bear embroidered onto Cassie’s overalls. “You sound like that disappoints you.”

Chloe shrugged. “It might.”

“I’d like to give you some advice. If you’re taking any, that is,” Elena added. Chloe nodded her head. “Don’t do what Nate and I did. Once you’ve got her, hold on; otherwise you’re both just wasting your time.”

“I’ll try, sunshine. I’ll try.”

Elena smiled. She pulled her knees up to her chest and rested her chin on them. The fairy lights that wove in and around the potted plants reflected in her eyes.

“You two would make a good couple. That’s why I never questioned it when Sam told us. Nate, though…” she chuckled. “He almost had a heart attack.”

“Yeah, I didn’t think he would like the idea of his ex-lover pining after a woman who was out to kill him.”

“She’s a beautiful woman, though,” Elena said.

“She really is.”

Chloe could feel her face grow hot. She didn’t know that her whole body could blush, but that’s what it felt like whenever she thought about Nadine. Nadine pressing her against the wall in South Africa, Nadine carrying her after being shot, Nadine sitting at her bedside day and night while she floated in and out of consciousness. She had said something about taking Chloe to a lake, but they’d argued before that could happen.

“I can take her back now, my arms have stopped cramping,” Elena offered.

“No, no, that’s alright.” Chloe pressed the baby closer to her. “She feels really soft.”

They left their flat the next day at seven a.m., when Cassie decided to wake everyone with her screaming. Nate and Elena were profusely apologetic and told Sam and Chloe to go back to bed when their sleepy faces poked out the door to the guest bedroom, but Chloe felt wide awake. She was itching to go. Sam less so, but he agreed to leave under the condition that Chloe would take the first driving shift and he could continue sleeping.

Nate and Elena stood on their balcony, waving them goodbye. Nate had the baby strapped to him in a carrier – apparently one of the only ways to get her to stop crying – and he waved with her little hand as well. They were clearly very reluctant about having them go, and made them promise to stop by again on the way down, but Sam and Chloe left well-fed and geared up. Elena gave Chloe and unexpectedly forceful hug and told her to not be stupid. She said she couldn’t promise anything.

“They’ve gotten old,” Chloe said as she drove them out of the city.

“Old and boring,” Sam agreed. He took his sunglasses out of his shirt pocket and handed them to Chloe, so that she may shield her eyes from the rising sun.

“They just don’t get us young people anymore,” Chloe shook her head and tutted. “No sense for adventure.”


	9. Deadman Mountain

* * *

Nadine leaned against her rental car, parked on the third floor of a random hotel garage in the centre of Utah’s capital. They were late, but she hadn’t expected them to be on time anyways. She tried to breathe through the knots in her stomach; she was nervous.

Headlights illuminated the far wall and a red convertible rolled down the ramp. Chloe pushed Sam’s sunglasses up into her hair and leaned out the window.

“Hello there, love.”

Nadine’s stomach jolted. She hated how much she enjoyed Chloe’s pet names for her. Hopefully it didn’t show outwardly.

“Frazer,” she replied, trying to keep her voice neutral. “Drake.”

“Always a pleasure, Ross,” Sam nodded at her.

“Let me just park the car and we’ll be right with you,” Chloe said, maintaining eye contact with her as she drove past.

Nadine closed her eyes forcefully when they disappeared behind a bend. Now was not the time to be giving in to her feelings. It would only make it that much harder to betray them. Besides, wasn’t she still angry at Chloe for being such a stubborn dickhead? Not really, but Nadine clutched at the last remnants of her rage desperately.

She could hear them get out of the car and walk back towards her, and – try as she might – Nadine could not get herself to stop looking. They had not seen each other in two weeks, how had she already forgotten how attractive she was? Chloe was doing it on purpose, swaying her hips like that. She had to. She reached into her hair and pulled it loose, so that it cascaded down her shoulders. Nadine bit the inside of her cheek and simulated a cough. How obvious of Chloe; it was borderline embarrassing. So why was it working on her?

“Well, you look nice,” Chloe said, pointing at Nadine’s white dress shirt and black trousers. “What’s the occasion?”

“I had to make myself pass as wait staff to get in to a private airport,” Nadine explained. “I’ve been in these clothes for almost two days, so you might want to keep your distance.”

Chloe took a step closer, grabbed Nadine’s shoulder and leaned in, so that her face almost touched Nadine’s neck. Her hair tickled. Nadine made eye contact with Sam over Chloe’s head and his raised eyebrows and bemused smirk made her want to shrivel up.

“I think you smell lovely,” Chloe announced, returning back to Sam’s side. Her grey eyes were beaming. Nadine wanted to be repulsed by how pleased with herself she looked, but smugness only made her hotter. “Right then, shall we find a place to stay?”

“We could just stay at this hotel,” Nadine suggested.

“There’s no way we can afford that-” Chloe trailed off as she watched Nadine produce a bundle of bills from her pocket. “Or maybe we might.” She swung the duffel bag over her shoulder and started walking. “Let’s go, lads.”

They each took separate rooms, but all met up in Chloe’s to plan the next few days. Despite having only been in the room for less than twenty minutes, Chloe had already managed to create an absolute mess as she pulled out books, maps, gear and strew them all over the floor an bed. Nadine and Sam exchanged a rare, agreeing look upon walking in on the scene.

“Oh don’t start,” Chloe said, sensing what might come out of their mouths next. “Spare me.”

“No, no,” Sam insisted. He stepped over an open encyclopaedia and moved Chloe’s laptop so that he might sit on a chair. “I like what you’ve done with the place.”

Chloe didn’t dignify the remark with a response.

She ruffled through papers and got out another map. “I was thinking we should scout out the park today before the sun goes down, so we know what we’re dealing with. There’s still a few hours of daylight left.”

“Do we know whereabouts the treasure should be? That forest is almost three thousand square miles,” Sam asked.

“Well according to the artefact, we’re looking for a mountain in the north-east, so roughly here,” she took the cap off a pen with her teeth and circled the area on a map. “That means it’s either going to be Mount Beulah, Lamotte Peak, Tokewanna Peak, or…” Chloe squinted at the map. “Deadman Mountain.”

Sam groaned. “What do you want to bet that it’s going to be the one with the really ominous name?”

Nadine took the map from Chloe and inspected it herself before tucking it away. “Alright then, let’s go.” She pointed the car keys at Drake. “Come on.”

“Give me a minute, I’ll just get out my boots.” Chloe got to her feet and reached for her luggage, but Nadine stepped in front of her.

“No, you stay here.” She gestured at the stack of books and manuscripts. “Do some research; we can hardly scale all four mountains. See if you can narrow it down any more.”

Chloe opened her mouth to answer, retort, say something snide yet flirty about Nadine having no right to tell her what to do, but the door banged shut in her face before she could make a sound.

On the other side of the door, Nadine barked at Sam to hurry. She didn’t want Chloe to come bursting out into the hallway and insist on joining; she wouldn’t be able to say no a second time. Chloe would only take offence if she tried to explain to her that she was still too weak to go mountaineering. Nadine didn’t want to tell Chloe she was weak again. She had looked so hurt when she’d said it the first time back in France.

Nadine wanted to keep her as far away as possible from the treasure. She might even steal her key card and lock her in. It would be easier to turn on just Sam and explain everything to Chloe later. Because of course she would tell Chloe; she had already seriously debated calling her after Nero left with her family. She would know what to do. She would comfort her. But Nero told her not to, and Nadine was not one to gamble with the lives of her loved ones.

“Should I be honoured that you chose me over Chloe?” Sam said as they got into the car.

“Don’t flatter yourself,” Nadine scoffed. “I picked you because you can break into a run without passing out.”

“Fair point.”

They drove in silence. Eventually Nadine veered off the road and steered the car through trees and undergrowth and over boulders, until the vegetation became too thick and they were forced to ditch the vehicle. They found themselves in the dead centre of the circle Chloe had drawn, at the edge of a lake from which they could view all three potential sites. Nadine unfolded the map.

“That’s Beulah, that’s Lamotte, Tokewanna-” she turned around. “And Deadman.”

“Why would someone call a mountain that?” Sam complained. “It doesn’t exactly make it inviting.”

“Maybe that was the point.”

Sam put his hands on his hips and sighed. “Looks like it will take us at least two days to get up any of these. Hopefully Chloe can eliminate some.”

“We’ll need gear too.” Nadine studied the landscape. “Hooks, ropes, tents, fire starters-”

“We’ve got all that,” Sam interjected. “Courtesy of Nate.”

Nadine frowned. “Then we better check it’s not been tampered with.”

“You’re hilarious.”

They made their way back to the car.

Sam walked behind Nadine, stopping to pick up branches to use as walking sticks or fling rocks at trees. She told him to speed up; they’d never find the car if it got dark. Sam dropped his stick and picked up the pace to fall in step beside her.

“So what made you decide to come back?” he asked.

“I’m not about to start chit-chatting with you, Drake,” she warned him.

“And here I was, thinking we’d finally become friends.” He lit a cigarette. “I for one am glad you’re back. The dream trio, reunited at last-”

Nadine stopped him brusquely. “We are not the dream trio.” She extinguished his cigarette with her fingers. “And you better not smoke around me either, ja? Shit smells disgusting.”

She pulled the cigarette from his mouth and dropped it into his pocket before stomping off. Sam stood in awe for a few seconds before regaining his thoughts.

“See, this is exactly what I meant! I missed this kind of friendly ribbing,” he called after her.

Back at the hotel, Chloe had thrown herself into her research. If Nadine wanted her to narrow it down, she would narrow it down. The fans on her laptop whirred loudly as the machine struggled to keep up with her vigour. Her room was even more of a mess. After the door had been slammed in her face, she considered strapping on the boots and following them down regardless, but the finality in Nadine’s voice kept her from it. Maybe if she played along for a while and did as she was told she could get back onto her good side. Chloe found it strange to be doing something she didn’t want to do only to please someone other than herself. And willingly, at that.

She threw herself back into her studies. The more she read, the more convinced she was that she knew where they should start looking. _Oh Sam is really not going to like this_ , Chloe mused.

When Sam and Nadine returned, they walked in on a clean room, and no sign of Chloe.

“We’re back,” Sam called. “Chloe?”

Something rustled in the bathroom. “Oh good, I was about to call. Let’s go down for dinner, I’m starving.”

“Could you find out anything new?” Nadine asked.

“Yeah, yeah, but I’ll only tell you over food.” The light in the bathroom turned off and she stepped out. “What do you think? I heard the restaurant they have here is pretty fancy.”

Sam’s jaw dropped; Nadine fought for hers to stay in place. Chloe had emerged in a red velvet dress, with a matching choker tight around her neck, and was leaning against the doorframe, basking in their stares.

Sam cleared his throat. “Have you just had that with you the entire time?”

“You never know when you might need to dress up,” Chloe shrugged. She took her purse from the desk and walked towards them. “Come on, let’s go.”

She shouldered past them and both caught a whiff of her perfume. Nadine and Sam made eye contact and quickly looked away.

“Wait! We can’t – at least let us change too,” Sam stammered after her. Chloe spun around on her heels. _Impressive_ , Nadine thought.

“Why? Nadine’s already in half a suit and you’re a man.” She dug around in her purse and held up two black ties. “Here, if you must.”

“I must,” Sam insisted with an outstretched hand. Chloe walked back and handed it to him, but bypassed Nadine’s open palm and tied it for her. In those shoes she was almost half a head taller than her, and Nadine was forced to look up at her concentrated face while her fingers brushed her neck.

“You’re doing it wrong, Frazer,” she said, far too softly for her liking. “Here, let me-”

Suddenly the tie fastened around her throat tightly and Nadine’s words were cut off. It sent a jolt through her body that made her back tingle. Chloe’s eyes bore into hers and for a moment Nadine feared her knees might buckle. Her face must have betrayed how much she liked that, because Chloe winked at Nadine with a sly smile. She patted her shoulder. “My method is just a little unconventional, that’s all.”

Nadine loosened the knot as she watched Chloe stalk down the corridor, hips swaying harder than ever, before disappearing behind a corner.

“What a woman,” Sam mumbled and she couldn’t tell whether he had meant to say that out loud. They hurried after her.

Chloe made them wait until there was food on the table before finally telling them what she had found out.

“Sam, you’re not going to like this, but-”

He groaned, throwing his head back. “It’s fucking Corpse Mountain, isn’t it? I knew it. I knew it! We never get to-”

“It’s _Deadman_ Mountain,” Chloe corrected him, flashing a smile at Nadine, who smiled back before she could stop herself. “And yes, I’m afraid that that’s where we’ll be headed tomorrow.”

“What makes you think that that’s the right one?” Nadine asked.

“Well, for one, it keeps cropping up everywhere,” she explained. “I’ve seen it mentioned in journals and letters and paintings, really every contemporary source I look at. It was one of the first mountains to be depicted in maps.” She took a sip of her whisky to create a dramatic pause. Nadine and Sam watched her expectantly. “But what really tipped me off was the name. Do you want to know why they called it Deadman Mountain?”

Sam whined, “Do I?”

“It’s because hikers kept finding bodies on their way up. Old bodies. Five hundred year old bodies,” she leaned in closer. “And these weren’t your run of the mill, Paiute, Shoshone or Ute people. They were from further south, much further south. And they were dressed in Aztec ceremonial clothing.”

Nadine took her glass and leaned back in her chair. “Someone must have wondered what made all those Aztec people come up to Utah, only to die scantily clad on a mountain.”

“Someone did wonder that – well, a few people actually. There were a handful of expeditions and archaeological digs, but they never found anything.”

“Sounds promising,” Nadine said.

“They never went any further than halfway up the mountain, though. And nobody’s been able to climb it since an earthquake five years ago.”

“But that’s not going to stop us, is it?” Sam asked.

“Of course not.”

Nadine nodded slowly, contemplatively. “Ja, okay. Sounds good.”

Chloe was pleased.

They finished their dinner and each retreated to their rooms, agreeing to meet up in Chloe’s room at 6 a.m. sharp to head out. Chloe leaned against her door after bidding the other two goodnight. She kicked her heels off and looked at herself in the mirror, stroking over the soft fabric of her dress. It had served her well. Nadine could barely keep her eyes off her. She pulled it off over her head and went into the bathroom to remove her make-up. Even the tie stunt had gone exactly as she had hoped, and Chloe grinned at the memory of Nadine’s wide brown eyes, the slightly parted lips, the moan she just about managed to supress.

She turned off the bedside lamp and lay down in her bed, waiting for her eyes to adjust to the darkness. The only light in the room came from underneath the door next to Chloe’s bed. It led to the room to her right – Nadine’s room – and was locked. She listened to Nadine pace around, watched the shadows her feet cast, and tried to picture what she was doing. Her lights extinguished and silence settled. Chloe was half-asleep by the time they turned back on and Nadine resumed her pacing. She forced herself to wake up. It was nearly midnight, what was Nadine doing still up?

Chloe grabbed her earrings from the nightstand and stood up as quietly as possible, making her way to the door. She set about picking the lock, holding her breath so that she might hear if Nadine decided to investigate the clicking noises. The lock gave in easily; it was hardly a challenge. Chloe pushed the handle down and let the door swing in.

Nadine was sat on the corner of the bed, facing the door, as if she were expecting her. _Interesting_ , Chloe thought.

“Frazer,” Nadine said in an impossibly neutral voice.

“Ross,” Chloe replied, making herself comfortable on the floor. She put her earrings away. “I saw that your light was still on. What’s wrong? Can’t sleep?”

“Something like that,” Nadine replied. “What about you?”

“Yeah, I can’t sleep either,” Chloe lied. “Too excited about tomorrow-”

“Are you sure you want to climb mountains in your state?” Nadine’s hands fidgeted ever so slightly. “Maybe you should stay back.”

Chloe fought to not let her anger rise. Why didn’t people believe her when she said she was _fine_?! She smiled through it; she didn’t want to have this fight again. “And miss out on all the fun? Never.”

“I’m serious, Chloe.”

“So am I,” she insisted. “I’m all good now, I promise. I wouldn’t lie to you.”

Nadine almost responded, but then thought better of it. That’s exactly the problem, she wanted to say. The problem was that Chloe didn’t know she was hurt, didn’t want to realise it. But Nadine knew. She could see that Chloe wasn’t quite herself yet. What if she hurt herself? Nadine didn’t want to carry her lifeless body around and fear for her life, _again_. It alarmed her how vulnerable Chloe made her. She had not known that kind of terror, that deep, bottomless despair, before Chloe and now Nero had brought it back by kidnapping her family.

Nadine could only fear for so many people’s lives at once, but Chloe was clearly not going to take no for an answer. She was stronger now – not _as_ strong as before, but strong enough to mount meaningful resistance. She thought of Cape Town, the wall, how Chloe had resisted her then…

“Mind if I come in, I-”

“You should go to bed,” Nadine interrupted her. Chloe’s expression sank. “We should try to get some sleep. Otherwise tomorrow is going to be hell.”

Chloe bit the inside of her lip; she was not used to having her advances be rejected so outright. She got to her feet and reached for the door handle.

“You’re right,” she conceded. “Goodnight then.”

“Goodnight, Chloe.”

She shut the door and flopped onto her matrass. She tried to comfort herself; at least they were back to being on a first name basis.


	10. Missing Gear

* * *

Chloe turned off the engine, wiped the sweat from her brow, and turned the key again. “Okay, now! Push!”

She felt the car jolt and could hear Nadine and Sam’s groans as they stemmed their weights against the car in an attempt to get it to budge. They were stuck in a mud patch. Chloe had underestimated just how dry the river bed was when she decided to drive through it, not around like Nadine said she should.

“It’s no use,” Sam declared, slumping against the back of the Jeep. “The thing won’t budge.”

“I told you-”

“I know what you told me.” Chloe hopped out of the car and got their gear out of the backrow. “No need to repeat it; that won’t move the car either.”

Nadine grumbled as Chloe tossed her a backpack.

“Might as well leave it here then, ey?” Chloe tightened the straps of her rucksack. “We shouldn’t waste daylight on this. Besides, we’re close enough.”

Nadine looked like she was going to protest but didn’t, and Chloe was thankful for that.

They were a two hour walk from the base of the mountain. Chloe led the way, enjoying the early morning sun and scenery. She tried to make conversation with Nadine, but the latter was not having it. She was not a morning person, no matter how hard she tried. They hiked in silence. Sam had fallen way back to smoke, and the only conversation that happened for a while was when Nadine found out that he was chucking his cigarette butts into the undergrowth. His excuse – that they could use them later as breadcrumbs to lead them back to the car – did not placate her. Chloe and Nadine sat on a boulder and waited for him to retrace his steps to undo some of his littering. Chloe studied her profile as she tied up her hair. Why was her concern for the environment so endearing?

“You feeling alright?” Nadine asked.

“Splendid,” Chloe responded. She decided to forget yesterday’s rejection. If anything, it was a success that Nadine had allowed her to pick the lock that separated their rooms.

Sam returned, visibly angry. He held a handful of cigarette butts out to Nadine.

“Here! I got them for you! Are you happy now?!”

“Yes,” Nadine replied curtly, getting back to her feet. She walked off and left Sam hanging. His incredulous gaze landed on Chloe.

“What?” she shrugged. “I like them authoritative.”

They had reached the mountain and the ground was starting to slope. The trail was narrow and they had to walk in a single file, and Chloe struggled to decide whether she wanted to fall in step behind Nadine or lead the way. Her inner turmoil caused her to be stuck behind Sam at the very end, whose baggy cargo shorts were not doing him any favours. Chloe sulked, but there was nobody to remark on her sulkiness and she gave it up pretty quick.

The ascent was not as hard as expected and they were making good time. Chloe hoped Sam and Nadine took this as irrefutable proof that Chloe was fine. Because she was fine. Better than fine – she felt great. It was good to finally be active. Nadine was wont to checking over her shoulder to see if she was keeping up, and Chloe liked to catch her eye and grin every time she did.

The first real hurdle came four hours in. Chloe had been wondering why the internet said that the path up the mountain was rendered inaccessible due to an earthquake – it seemed perfectly intact – when Nadine stopped dead at the edge of a sharp drop. The trail was interrupted by a deep chasm, fifteen feet across. She unslung her backpack and started to dig around in it, but Sam simply broke into a sprint and jumped. He landed on his feet lithely and turned around with a smile.

“Let’s not waste time setting up a rope,” he called to them.

Nadine looked at Chloe, who tilted her head to the side. “After you, love.”

“Are you sure?” Nadine asked.

“Piece of cake,” she assured her.

Nadine was not convinced, but she strapped her rucksack back on and leapt over to Sam, where she crouched down at the edge, ready to catch Chloe. Chloe blew the hair out of her face, took a few steps back and got ready to jump. _Finally something dangerous_ , she thought.

Chloe ran. The rocks were hard and crunched under the soles of her shoes, and then she was sailing through the air. The familiarity of it made her heart sing, but only for a second.

There was no way she was going to make it.

She hadn’t run hard enough. She hadn’t jumped far enough. She had taken off too early. Chloe knew she was falling – not soaring – and she shut her eyes. Something gripped her outstretched arm and Chloe wacked into the cliff side, head first.

Sam scrambled to help Nadine hoist her up. They got her onto flat ground and Nadine propped her against a tree. Chloe’s eyes were screwed shut; there was a gash above her eyebrow that was trickling blood into her face. Nadine seized her shoulders.

“Chloe?! Chloe, are you alright?”

Chloe opened her eyes from her momentary blackout. Her ears were ringing; her head hurt. She touched the wound on her face and flinched. Nadine took her hand away gently, “Don’t do that, you’ll get dirt in it.”

She nodded. The ringing was subsiding, the headache would too. “Thanks for the catch, partner.” She tried to get up, but Nadine pressed her down.

“Give it a second, ja?”

Chloe chuckled. She looked up at Sam for backup, but his gaze was just as concerned.

“Guys, I’m fine,” she insisted. Nadine did not try to stop her from getting to her feet again. “A bit rusty, is all. I’ll get the hang of it.” She dusted herself off. “Come on, show’s over.”

Sam and Nadine exchanged worried glances behind her back.

Chloe fought to stay in the lead. The pounding in her head seemed to be getting worse, not better. The day had been cloudy at first, but now the clouds were breaking up and allowing the sunshine through. Chloe began to sweat, and it made her wound sting harder. She was glad that Sam and Nadine were behind her and could not see her grimace; they would never let her hear the end of it.

Their path was blocked by boulders and debris. Chloe tried to climb over it first, but her grip kept slipping and Sam had to give her a leg up. The word liability would not stop echoing through her brain, making it hard to think. She didn’t stop to wait for Sam and Nadine to make it over; the more distance she put between them, the less likely they were to see her hurting.

She continued walking even after Nadine suggested they stop to eat. If she sat down now, she would give in to the pain. They would see she wasn’t alright. Chloe tried to breathe through her migraine, but it was making her vision blurry. She stumbled.

“Frazer?”

She caught herself on a rock.

“Chloe, stop. Drink some water.”

She shook her head. That made it worse.

Nadine groaned. She pushed past Sam and spun Chloe around by her shoulder. “You need to take a break.”

“I’m fine-”

“Stop with the ‘I’m _bloody_ fine’!” She slung Chloe over her shoulder and marched off the trail, to a cluster of trees, where she dumped her in the shade. Chloe clutched her head. Nadine unfastened her backpack and emptied its contents. She pressed a water bottle and sandwich into Chloe’s lap. “Eat, drink, and be quiet.” She produced a first aid kit. “I’m going to clean your wound.”

Chloe unscrewed the cap and took a sip. “Yes, ma’am.”

“You’re the most stubborn dickhead I’ve ever met,” Nadine lamented. She ripped open an alcohol pad with her teeth.

“So you’ve said,” Chloe smiled. Her smile turned into a grimace as soon as the alcohol touched her skin. “Ow, that stings-”

“Stay still.” Nadine pinned Chloe’s hand to the ground. She was fully concentrated on the task at hand. “It’ll hurt more if you move.”

Chloe shut up and took a bite of her bread. Nadine did not let go of her hand, either because she had forgotten about it or because she feared Chloe might try to interfere again. Christ, she smelled good. Chloe enjoyed having her this close to her.

“You take such good care of me,” she purred.

“Shut up.” Nadine tried not to blush. “Eat your food.”

Sam had let himself down farther away, acutely aware of his status as a third wheel. At least this way he could smoke. He toyed with his binoculars and used them to survey the landscape around him. So far, Deadman Mountain was not living up to its name; on the contrary, he found it quite scenic and peaceful. The mountaintop rose sharply in front of him. If they used their hooks, they might even make it up there by tonight. He watched Nadine press a plaster onto Chloe’s forehead. If she couldn’t clear fifteen feet, there was no way she could scale a vertical rock wall. He wasn’t overly concerned about Chloe – after all, this was _Chloe_ , she would never not pull through. If anything, her pig-headedness amused him.

They’d have to slowly wind their way up then, but how? He searched the mountain for a path.

“Thanks, china,” Chloe said when Nadine had finished patching her up and sat down to eat. “Could have done that myself, but you seemed so keen.”

Nadine scoffed. “The way your hands are shaking, you would have probably stuck the plaster onto the wrong eyebrow.”

“I’m just too excited about being back in the game.” She finished her sandwich and clapped the crumbs from her hands. “I get antsy if I’ve been out of it for too long.”

“You mean more than usual?”

“Guys!” Sam shouted. They turned to see that he was standing, studying the mountain peak. He waved them over with his free hand. “I think I’ve found something.”

Chloe sprang to her feet and helped Nadine up. The latter took the binoculars from Sam and followed his pointing finger.

“There, do you see that? Carved into the stone. It’s too rectangular to be natural.”

“It looks like an entrance,” Nadine said and passed the binoculars on to Chloe. She absentmindedly put her hand on the small of Chloe’s back to guide her to look in the right direction. Chloe leaned into her.

“There. Can you see it?”

Chloe made out a rectangular hole just below the Deadman’s peak. It appeared to have engravings all around, maybe even a statue. She gave the binoculars back to Sam.

“Definitely not natural.”

*

They set up camp in an alcove next to the trail – not that there even was much of a trail to follow this high up. The sun was starting to set and they agreed to save the last leg for tomorrow morning; it would take them a couple hours at most. Sam and Chloe left to collect firewood, leaving Nadine alone to set up their tents. She had just finished with the first one when her pocket began to vibrate. She fished her phone out to see that it was an incoming call. From Nero.

Nadine stuck her head out the alcove to make sure Sam and Chloe were still gone.

“Ja?”

“Nadine, good to hear from you. It’s been a few days,” he said. “How have you been?”

His voice made her jaw clench. “You’ll have the treasure by tomorrow.”

“Okay, you’re not in the mood for small talk.” Nero chuckled airily. Falsely. “Well, not with me, anyways. But maybe you’d like to speak to your family?”

Nadine froze. She heard him move the phone and his voice sounded farther off. “Do you not want to say hello to your daughter? Your sister? Come on, I’ve got her right here on the phone.” Silence. “Alright.” He placed the phone against his ear again. “I’m afraid they’re not in a talking mood either.”

“You’ll have it by tomorrow. I can’t get it any sooner; it’s night-”

“Oh no, I didn’t mean to rush you,” Nero claimed defensively. “I just wanted to make sure you didn’t forget about me. Or them. And what is at stake here.”

She wanted to hang up on him then, but didn’t dare to.

“I have not forgotten,” she said through gritted teeth.

“Good. Then you also know how important it is that this handover goes off without any… altercations.”

“It won’t.” There was a rustling sound and Nadine saw Chloe and Sam returning in the distance, arms full of wood, happily talking amongst them. “I need to go now.”

“It was nice talking to you,” Nero said in a voice so fake it made her skin crawl. “Get some rest; tomorrow will be a long day for you.”

The line clicked and was dead.

Nadine tried to shake her discomfort off before Sam and Chloe could sense it on her. She busied herself with the tents and hoped that her heart would stop racing. She was scared. She had never been good at processing that emotion.

“Sam almost cut down a whole tree back there,” Chloe said to her.

“It was a tiny dead thing. We could have just used that wood instead of trekking all the way out and collecting single branches.”

“You just wanted an excuse to use Nate’s foldable axe-”

“I wouldn’t have bothered bringing it had I known you wouldn’t let me use it!”

“I told you _not_ -”

Nadine tuned them out.

She rejoined them when the tents were ready and Sam announced that their dinner was ready, and by that he meant that their canned stew had finished heating. Chloe patted the ground beside her and Nadine accepted the offer, though she didn’t sit down as close to her as Chloe had wanted. She handed her a bowl.

“Tents all done?” she asked. The orange firelight brought out her eyes. Nadine nodded and put her head down to focus on the much less attractive meal. She found it ridiculous that she couldn’t control her staring; it was only a matter of redirecting her gaze, after all. How could that be so hard to do?

Sam was the first to finish his dinner – but not before declaring that Panamanian prison food was better than that overly salted mush – and reached into a backpack for a sleeping bag. He pulled one out, then another, and the bag seemingly deflated. He dug around in it senselessly. Nadine set her bowl down.

“Drake, did you forget to pack a third sleeping bag?”

Sam inhaled sharply and rolled his lower lip between his fingers. “You know, I might have forgotten that we only had two…”

Nadine groaned, but Chloe laughed. “Take it, mate. I don’t need one.”

“No!” Nadine called out. “Don’t reward him! If anything, he should sleep without. The gear was his responsibility.”

“It’s fine, really,” Chloe maintained, waving Sam away. “I’m a warm sleeper.”

“Frazer, we’re almost ten thousand feet above sea level. You’re going to freeze to death without one.”

“So I’m meant to freeze to death instead?” Sam said.

Nadine looked him dead in the eyes. “Ja, preferably. It’s what you get for missing gear.”

“I-”

“Nobody is going to freeze to death,” Chloe assured them. “Some of us will just have to share.”

Nadine saw the mischief flash up in Chloe’s eyes; it made her wonder whether this missing sleeping bag was accidental. It was obvious to all of them who would be getting into a sleeping bag together, but Chloe wanted to make a joke of it anyways.

“You can share with Sam,” she said. “Teach him a lesson for being so careless.”

“I would rather freeze to death,” Nadine replied flatly.

“You know, I actually think I’m too muscular to comfortably share a sleeping bag with anyone,” Sam said, eyeing his biceps through the sleeves of his long white t-shirt. His blue shirt with the white flames had gotten caught on a rock and torn, so he had been forced to ball it up and put it away to spare it any further damage. It was one of his recent favourites.

Nadine scoffed at his remark but said nothing. She scraped the last of her stew out of the bowl.

“Oh, and before I forget.” He reached into his pocket and tossed a pill bottle at Chloe. “You can have these back, they weren’t really doing much for me.”

Sam wished them goodnight and disappeared into his tent. Slightly turning her head, Chloe observed Nadine, trying to spot a blush, a bitten lower lip – anything to indicate a bit of excitement. Chloe struggled to keep hers from bubbling forth uncontrolled. She got up to stretch and yawn, wide awake still but desperate to go to bed.

“Come on, partner,” she held out a hand to Nadine. “It’s bedtime.”

Nadine forced her heart to stop thumping as she took Chloe’s hand. She had shared a sleeping bag on a mission before, this wasn’t anything new. Except it was, because this time it would be with Chloe, not some random person she did not particularly care for. It almost made it worse, to know just how close they were going to be…

Chloe grabbed the remaining bag and led the way to the tent. Nadine stayed behind, doubtful. Maybe if she kept the fire going all night, it would be alright. She only considered that option half-heartedly, though. There was nothing she would rather do than share a sleeping bag with her; if only she could keep it from showing too obviously.

Chloe blatantly flaunting the joy it brought her. She crawled into the tent and unrolled the bag; Nadine sat down on the other side of it and took her shoes off.

“So,” Chloe said, undoing her belt. Nadine tried to ignore the bucking of Chloe’s hips as she did so. “Big spoon or small spoon?” She took her hair out of its ponytail. “You’re too much of a stereotypical big spoon, it’s almost suspicious.”

“No spooning,” Nadine replied. “Back to back.”

Chloe frowned. “Back to back? That’s so uncomfortable. Come on.” She smacked Nadine’s leg. “It’s professional. Professional spooning, for warmth and comfort.”

Nadine swallowed hard. She did not know which position to choose. They were all equally compromising.

“Big spoon,” she blurted out before the pause became too long and suspicious.

Chloe raised her eyebrows, “Surprising.”

She quickly popped her medication into her mouth, hoping it would take care of her still-lingering headache and shimmied into the bag. She turned away from Nadine and patted the spot behind her. “Get in then.”

Nadine realised that she had chosen poorly.

Try as she might, there was no way for her to keep any sort of distance. Chloe could feel Nadine back away to leave a gap, and she blatantly ground her ass into her lap in response. Nadine sucked air in through her teeth despite herself. Chloe grinned, satisfied.

“You’re leaving me no space, Frazer,” Nadine said.

“There is no space,” Chloe replied with overplayed innocence. “I’m giving you as much as I can.”

Nadine sighed in resignation. It was uncomfortable to keep her arms pressed so rigidly to her side, but she did not know what else to do with them. As much as she wanted to shrink away from Chloe’s touch, there was an equal – if not greater – part that wanted to push into her harder, grab her hips, burry her face in her neck. Chloe’s hair tickled her nose. She smelled so good, better now that she was without perfume. Like shampoo and fire and wet soil.

“Here, wait,” Chloe sat up and pulled Nadine’s arm out so that she could put her head on it. “That should be better.”

There was no more teasing and joking anymore. It was too dark out and they were too close together, closer than ever. Chloe saw the outline of Nadine’s hand in the darkness. She wanted to hold it, have it hold her back. She didn’t, out of fear it might scare Nadine off.

Nadine relaxed. It was hard not to; she thought it was clichéd to say it felt right, but it did. Her other arm slowly moved forwards until it was draped around Chloe’s waist.

“This is still just strictly professional, right?” Chloe jested in a hushed whisper.

“Go to bed,” Nadine said, and having her voice so close to her ear sent a jolt through Chloe’s body. She tried her best to will herself to stay awake so that she might enjoy the feeling of having Nadine pressed up against her, but she failed. The medication made her drowsy and Chloe did not think she had ever felt more comfortable. 


	11. The Abyss

* * *

Sam wondered whether he should wake them. It was eight a.m. and the entrance to their tent was still zipped up; they had agreed to break up camp an hour ago. He grinned to himself as he poured the last of the coffee into his mug. What had they been up to that tired them out this much?

He hadn’t heard anything suspicious, but then again, he was a heavy sleeper. Surely they wouldn’t…? Not here, on the hard floor of a cave, with him five feet away. Well, maybe Chloe would, but Nadine did not seem the type. Only one way to find out…

He got to his feet and shook their tent.

“It’s eight a.m., rise and shine, girls!” he shook it harder. “Make sure you’re decent before you come out.”

Chloe laughed; Nadine cursed. Sam walked back to the slowly dying fire and laid some more wood on it to make another pot of coffee.

Chloe emerged from the tent, rubbing her eyes. Her lips parted into a wide grin. “Morning.”

“Sleep well?” he asked, offering her his mug.

“Oh, like a baby,” she said. “Right through the alarm and everything; those pills just really knock me out.”

“So nothing exciting happened?” He dropped his voice and leaned in closer. Chloe rolled her eyes at him.

Nadine was in the tent still, lacing up her boots. She hadn’t slept through the alarm. It woke her up, but when she saw that Chloe was still out cold, she stayed put. She listened to Sam get up and make himself breakfast and whistle, all the while holding on tightly to Chloe. For a brief moment she forgot why she was here, what had driven her to rejoin the mission. Until Sam rattled her back into reality.

They packed up their things and extinguished the fire, ready to start the last leg of the ascent. Chloe felt better, revitalised, and she really couldn’t tell whether it was a result of the medication or spending a night being spooned by Nadine. Whatever it was, she managed to clear most obstacles unhindered – albeit a lot less graceful than usual – and even Nadine had to admit to herself that Chloe seemed to be able to hold her own. For now.

It was midday by the time they reached the strange entrance they had observed from below yesterday. They could not find it again until it suddenly appeared right in front of them, larger than they could have imagined. The archway was enormous, decorated in intricate carvings that were slowly crumbling away; it sagged visibly at the top under the weight of the mountain. The statues on either side, sculptures of warriors, were half the height they had once been. The left one was missing its head, the right one had split right down the middle. There was no door barring their way, but that didn’t make it any more inviting. The darkness beyond was absolute.

Nadine ran her hand along the carvings and pointed at the cracks.

“Think this was due to the earthquake?”

Chloe turned over a rock at her feet; it was shaped to resemble a panther’s head. “I mean there was probably more than just one earthquake in the five hundred years this has been here. And, you know, the usual wear and tear of time.”

“Holy _fuck_.” Sam stood at the entrance, pointing his flashlight in. He turned to look at them, eyes ripped wide open. “I was wondering when we’d encounter a Deadman – well, _men_. Come look at this.”

The beam of light cut through the darkness, illuminating the floor – except there was hardly any floor to illuminate. It was covered in bodies.

Chloe took out her own flashlight and stepped inside, trying to find patches free of bones to tread on. There were hundreds of them, strewn about, nothing but skeletons shoved into helmets and rotting fabrics. She stooped to pick a headdress up off the ground and brushed the dust off to reveal it was gold.

“Like Morley said…”

“What?” Nadine shouted. Sam and her were still at the entrance.

“Morley, that insufferable curator of the Natural History Museum,” she explained. “He said there was a legend that the Aztecs found the treasure and took it up north, where they hid it. Then they all killed themselves so that nobody could betray its location and their spirits would protect the treasure.”

Sam was the first to follow her. He picked up a shield and the fragments of a spear. They were both gold.

“All this stuff on its own could already fetch a pretty penny,” he mused.

“There has to be more, though,” Nadine insisted. “Why kill yourself otherwise?”

“She’s right,” Chloe called over to them. She had wandered off again. “And we’ll probably find it somewhere down here.”

Chloe stood at the beginning of a vast descending stone staircase. There were hardly more than four steps though, and at the bottom of it loomed an abyss too deep to illuminate.

“Well that looks inviting,” Sam huffed. “We’ll have to rappel down.”

“I wonder what this was before it all fell apart,” Chloe pondered, squatting down.

“Judging from my previous experience, I’d say it used to be a number of floors, each with its own riddle that needed solving before you could access the next,” Nadine said. “And death traps.”

Chloe stood up. “When you say it like that, it almost sounds like you don’t enjoy it.”

Nadine rolled her eyes.

They readied their gear. Chloe was the first to be lowered down onto a ledge below them. She felt tiny; the darkness made the abyss seem endless. Any noise they made echoed off the bare walls for ages. Chloe would not have been surprised if an army of spirits rose to meet her. She landed on the ledge and called up to Nadine and Sam that she was ready for them to come join her.

That is how they slowly made their way down, bit by bit, from one ledge to the end. Sometimes the remnants of the structure were not much wider than their feet, other times they were large enough to lie down on. Eventually they were farther down than the sunlight could reach and had to rely on just their flashlights. Chloe wasn’t bothered by it; it made it that much more thrilling.

Nadine chewed the inside of her cheeks until she drew blood. Sam and Chloe wore expressions of amazement and excitement, not yet knowing that they could not keep anything of what they found. Nadine wondered if they would understand, if they would do this for her. What was it to them, after all, if her brother and mother were in danger? If they refused to hand it over, she would have to threaten them. But could she really point a gun at Sam and Chloe, and mean it? If it were just Sam… but even that was questionable. She wanted to tell them, but it wouldn’t be any good. Maybe they would stop searching once they realised they were not going to be able to keep any of it, and Nadine knew that she would not be able to find it on her own. Or – and this was more likely – they would try to come up with some fantastical, high-risk, outlandish plan that allowed them to both keep the treasure and free her family. That was just who Sam and Chloe were.

She could still see Isaac fighting the man holding him. There was too much at stake to do anything but follow orders. And the orders had been very clear. Nadine tried to hide her face from Sam and Chloe while they talked about what they wanted to buy with the money they made.

Eventually they made it to the bottom. The floor was covered in several feet of debris and they stumbled over boulders and statues and wall fragments, trying to figure out what to do next.

“Well this is disappointing,” Chloe huffed. “What the fuck are we supposed to do now?”

Sam shrugged. His face was dusty and his hands had rope burn.

“There’s light shining in through here.” Nadine’s voice came from some distant corner. “I can feel a breeze, help me move this.”

Sam and Chloe followed the sound of her voice to find Nadine leaning against a rock. It budged a little, allowing a faint ray of light to shine through. They helped her create a gap large enough to fit through. Chloe squeezed through first and dropped into another room. Sam and Nadine landed behind her.

The ceiling of the cake sported a crack which allowed sunlight to spill in and illuminate the contraption that took up the entire space. In the very centre was a cupola, from which various horizontal poles of differing sizes emanated. The floor on which the glimmering golden structure stood was tiled, and the image it created resembled a map.

Chloe dropped her bag and tore it open. She got out the artefact and held it up for comparison.

“This is it,” she whispered. She spun around to face Nadine and Sam. “They’re the same. It’s a giant reconstruction.”

Nadine walked up to her and took the artefact. She nodded and passed it on to Sam.

“What do you want to bet that if we move those poles to match the ones on the artefact, the dome in the middle will open?” he grinned and tossed the artefact back to Chloe.

She smiled back at him, “I mean… it’s a pretty safe bet to make.”

They set to work trying to align the poles. The mechanism was old and fairly rusted, but they managed. Nadine wiped the sweat from her brow after pushing one of the rods into place and looked at Chloe.

“Frazer,” she called. Chloe lifted her head. “What do these things even mean? What are they pointing at?”

Chloe leaned against her pole and took a swig from her water bottle, her cheeks bright red and glistening. “You know, I actually have no idea. I just spent two hours toying with it, and eventually I got it right.” Nadine laughed and Chloe beamed back at her. “Guess I’m lucky like that.”

It was exactly as Sam had predicted; as soon as the last bar was aligned to match the artefact, the dome groaned and began to open down the middle. The three of them hurried to watch; when it was done, they were staring into yet another bottomless pit.

“Ladies first?” Sam offered. He clicked his flashlight on and handed it to Nadine. She shook her head at him but started to tie a rope around her waist anyways. Chloe picked up a pebble and chucked it into the darkness. It struck the ground after a few seconds.

“Shouldn’t be too deep,” she said. “At least this time we can hear it hit the bottom.”

Nadine climbed onto the edge of the dome and readied herself to rappel down, handing the other end of the rope to Sam. She looked to Chloe.

“Don’t let him drop me.”

“Of course not, china.”

She jumped in and disappeared from sight.

The knot in Nadine’s stomach had tripled, and the constricting rope around her midriff was not helping ease her nausea. They were close. She would have to betray them soon. All weapons were in her bag; she’d made sure of that. The thought of actually pointing a gun at them made her feel sick. She hoped they would leave without it coming to that. She knew they wouldn’t, but she hoped for it regardless.

“It’s safe,” Nadine called up. “Come down.”

She looked around; it was yet another large, dark, crumbling room. On the far end of it were marble stone slabs, largely intact. She shone her flashlight at them and saw that they were decorated. One of them had a hole in the centre. It was square and roughly the size of the artefact.

Chloe tied her rope to one of the poles as best she could; her trembling hands did not make it easy to knot things. Sam had gone down after Nadine, so he could not help her – not that she would have let him. She tugged at the rope and the knot did not budge. _Good enough_ , she thought and walked over to the open dome.

“Heads up!” she called down.

It went well for a solid five seconds, then she could feel the knot above start to give. Chloe scrambled for the wall but she was too far away, dangling in mid-air. The rope came undone. It happened too fast for her to scream; Chloe was not the screaming type anyways.

She braced for an impact that didn’t come. Her feet never touched the floor; someone caught her around the waist instead. The force of it still knocked the air out of her lungs, but it was better than breaking her legs. Chloe opened her eyes and looked down at Nadine; her headlight blinded her.

“Are you-”

Chloe kissed her. Hard.

She held Nadine’s face in her hands like her life depended on it. Nadine was surprised at first, but then she tightened her grip around Chloe, whose feet hovered uselessly above the ground, and kissed her back with fervour. Chloe’s legs wrapped around her waist. Her lips tasted like sweat and oranges, even though Nadine had never even seen her come into contact with one. Chloe felt the muscles in Nadine’s arms through her shirt; they were holding her so strongly it made it hard to breathe. She didn’t care. If anything, she wanted her to pull her in even closer. Chloe sunk her hands into Nadine’s hair as the other bit her lower lip. She tried not to moan.

Neither of them could quite believe this was happening.

It didn’t happen for long - at least not for as long as they had wanted it to. Suddenly the walls began to shake and the grating sound of stone dragging against stone filled their ears. Nadine and Chloe broke apart to locate the source of the sound. It was Sam, standing next to a hole in the wall where one of the stone slabs used to be. He had inserted the artefact.

Sam caught their gazes.

“Oh no, you go back to whatever you were doing,” he said with overplayed sincerity, gesturing for them to continue. “I’ll just go loot this treasure on my own.”

He winked at them and walked through the entrance, disappearing in the light.


	12. Loot

* * *

“Holy goddamn shit.”

Nadine looked at Chloe.

“Took the words right out of my mouth.”

They were in a circular room; the light cast by the flaming torches reflected on the golden wallpaper. And the golden statues. And the massive golden tomb that stood right in the centre. Chloe let her eyes wander on the search for something that wasn’t gold. They came up empty.

Sam walked up to the closest statue, a snake about the size of his head, and let his hands trace the lines on its face. He examined the jewels that served as eyes. “These are rubies,” he whispered. “This thing alone is going to be worth millions. Guys, we’re going to be _rich_.”

“All this gold could seriously fuck up the world economy,” Chloe said. She walked up to the square tomb and brushed the dust off the surface. It was covered in intricate etchings that she could not make heads nor tails of. “Lend me a hand, partner. Let’s see who we’ve got here.”

Nadine helped her pry the lid open. They looked down at a corpse wearing a tall blue and green feather headdress almost as long as the body itself. The skeleton had been wrapped in a matching blue cape and decked out in jewellery and accessories. A spear lay to the left of the body and a shield covered its feet. Something white shimmered through the finger bones and Chloe reached in tentatively to retrieve it. It turned out to be a chess figure. The king.

“Now I’m no expert on the Aztec empire, but I think we just found Montezuma’s grave.” She placed the figurine in Nadine’s palm. “Cortes taught him how to play chess while they held him prisoner to keep him entertained.”

“How kind of them,” Nadine said.

“This is going to take ages to loot.” Sam knelt next to his backpack, emptying it. “These things are heavy, we’re going to have to take multiple trips.”

“Better get going then,” Chloe proclaimed. She took the shield out of the grave and inspected it, using it to reflect light into Nadine’s eyes, who raised a hand to shield them. “Shiny.”

Nadine watched Chloe and Sam pour out their gear onto the floor and instead load their bags with coins, statues, decorative weapons, really any loot small enough to fit. They talked animatedly, excitedly, and were too engrossed to notice Nadine whip out her phone and text Nero that they had found the treasure. She tucked it away and observed Chloe as she slung her heavily laden backpack over her shoulder, laughing and groaning under the weight of it. She didn’t yet know that they wouldn’t be leaving with any of it.

Chloe readjusted the straps, hoping to lessen the burden that way, but it was no use; it was still far too heavy. She crouched down and began to unpack some of the treasure. Her eyes landed on Nadine, who stroked the cover of the grave absentmindedly. Chloe brushed the hair from her face; she looked disturbed.

“What’s wrong, china?” she called to her. “Why the long face?”

Nadine opened her mouth, but before she could come up with something, her phone rang. It was Nero. Chloe caught the flicker of fear in Nadine’s eyes and got to her feet.

“Nadine? Who’s calling you?”

Nadine said nothing; the phone in her hand continued to vibrate. She didn’t know what to do. Chloe advanced steadily and Nadine took a step back, holding an arm out.

“Don’t. Stop,” she cautioned. Chloe came to a halt reluctantly. Nadine backed away even further. “Just… I need to take this.”

She picked the call up and strode into the far end of the room, aware that Sam and Chloe would be able to hear everything that she would say. By now, they were both tracking her with concerned gazes. Maybe if she kept her replies to Nero vague enough, she’d be able to lie to them.

“Nadine,” Nero purred into the receiver. Her skin scrawled. “That was a lot faster than expected, well done.”

She said nothing. She glanced over her shoulder and saw that Sam was next to Chloe, hands on his hips, frowning.

“I think it would be best if you got rid of your friends as soon as possible. My men are close by; they will shoot anyone who isn’t you.”

“How close?”

“Close enough,” he replied. “Make sure they don’t take souvenirs. I will know if anything is missing. See you soon.”

He hung up on her. Nadine clutched her phone and squeezed her eyes shut. She did not want to turn around.

“Who was that?” Sam asked suspiciously. Nadine remained quiet.

“Nadine.” Chloe’s voice was stern. She had not adopted that tone with her since their first meeting on that rooftop in India, when Chloe had made it very clear that this was _her_ gig. “What’s going on?”

She tucked her phone away and turned around.

“You need to leave.”

“We need to _what_?” Sam exclaimed. “Why?”

“I can’t explain now, but you have to leave. Immediately.”

“What about-”

Chloe put her hand on his chest to silence him, eyes still locked on Nadine’s. “It’s okay, Sam. She’ll explain later.” Chloe nodded at her calmly, pulling at Sam’s arm. “Come on. Let’s take our bags and go.”

Sam looked as though he would argue, but ultimately pursed his lips and grabbed the strap of his backpack.

“You can’t take those with you,” Nadine said. “Everything needs to stay here.”

“Okay, now you’re out of your mind!” Sam shouted and his bag hit the floor with a metallic bang. “What’s happening? Who was that on the phone?”

“I’m not leaving here empty-handed,” Chloe joined him. “Tell us what’s wrong. We want to help.”

“Seriously, just tell us,” Sam insisted. “Is someone making you do this?”

The genuine concern that emanated from Sam and Chloe got to Nadine. They walked towards her, slowly, talking in low voices that it was okay, she could tell them, they only wanted to help. Nadine watched Chloe’s lips as she spoke, remembering vividly what it had felt like to have them pressed against her own. She could feel her eyes start to well up. Just like her mother’s had when they pressed a gun to her temple. Nadine panicked and pulled out a gun of her own. Chloe and Sam stopped dead in their tracks.

“I need you to leave, _now_ ,” Nadine ordered in a low, grave voice. “Leave.”

“Put the gun down before you hurt someone, love.”

Nadine shot at the ground before their feet. Now was not the time to question her seriousness, or her gunmanship. Sam jumped back; Chloe stayed put.

“Don’t worry, she won’t actually shoot us,” she assured him.

“Yeah, maybe not you!” Sam objected. He searched their pile of gear with the tip of his shoe. “Shit.” He stared at Nadine with contempt. “She’s got all our guns. How long have you been planning this, Ross?”

Nadine did not reply; she was busy backing away from Chloe, who continued to walk towards her. Nadine fired a second shot, and a third, even a forth. Chloe was relentless.

“Save your bullets, I know you’re bluffing,” Chloe said, unimpressed. She barely paid them any attention. “What’s gotten into you? Who were you on the phone to?”

“Please, Chloe. You have to go,” Nadine begged. “Nero said his men would be here soon. You’re in danger, you need to _go_.”

“Nero? Is that who called you?” Chloe was close to her. She shot at her feet. Nothing. “Is he making you do this? Are you working for him?” Her hand reached out in an attempt to push the gun down. “Is he blackmailing you?”

Nadine shot her.

The impact forced Chloe to take a step back. She clutched her arm where the bullet had grazed her; her fingers came back red.

“Are you _fucking insane_?!” Sam yelled, feeling thoroughly ignored. Nobody paid him any attention and he smacked his hands against his thighs in exasperation.

“Is that it, then?” Chloe resumed her attack, but slower this time, holding onto her shoulder. “Are you being blackmailed?”

Nadine’s hands shook. She had intended for the bullet to only brush past Chloe, but she hadn’t taken into account how jarring it would be to see her bleed. See her bleed and know that it was because of her. Chloe made use of Nadine’s unnerved demeanour to kick the gun out of her hand. It hit the wall and broke apart. Chloe grabbed the sides of her face and leaned in close, searching Nadine.

“Tell me what is happening. What does this man have on you?”

Her grey eyes were incessant, demanding, especially up close. Nadine forced her hands away, but it didn’t help. She was ready to confess.

“He took my mother and brother,” she said in a low voice. “Those men we fought in London were his. He has a client who wants this treasure and he won’t release my family unless I give it to him.” Nadine eyed Sam, still holding on to his full bag. “ _All_ of it.”

“How does this man know where we are?”

Nadine held up her arm, pointing at a thin scab. “He put a tracker in my arm.” She pulled her arm back. “If he finds you here, he will kill you. He told me to make sure-”

“You let him _chip_ you?!”

“I did not _let_ him, my family was being held at gunpoint!”

“You mean that someone has been tracking our every move this entire time, and you didn’t mean to tell us?” Chloe took a step back and ran her hands through her hair. “Why didn’t you say anything?! We would have helped you! We would-”

“That’s exactly what I didn’t want. There’s too much at stake here.” Nadine reached into her bag and pulled out another gun. “You need to _leave_ -”

Chloe smacked the weapon out of her hand. “Stop with the bloody gun! Nobody is buying your fucking bluff!”

Nadine peered over Chloe’s shoulder and looked pleadingly at Sam. “You’re in danger. You need to go.”

He crossed his arms and shook his head. “Not with nothing. I didn’t climb a mountain to leave with _nothing_.”

“You won’t leave at all if you don’t go right now. This man is not playing around!” she cried. “Don’t you see? Your lives are at stake here! Do you really want to die here for the sake of some… some loot?”

“Some loot?!” Sam repeated incredulously. “ _Some loot_?! This is not just ‘some loot’, Ross.”

“Which is why he will shoot you if you try-”

“Did you only come back because of the blackmail?” Chloe asked suddenly.

Sam groaned. “Chloe, not now-”

“No, shut up, Sam,” she cut him off. She stared at Nadine and dropped her voice. “Would you have come back if it hadn’t been for that?”

Nadine did not want to answer; her hands moved to get the last weapon in her arsenal.

“I swear to God, if you point one more shitting gun at me, I will shoot you with it!”

Nadine stopped, she didn’t quite know why. “Why won’t you go? Nero will have you killed-”

“Will you come with us?”

She shook her head, “He wants me to stick around.”

“Then we’re not going,” Chloe stemmed her hands against her hips. “We’re staying. For you. For the treasure – _our_ treasure.” She licked her lips. “Just let us help you.”

Nadine grabbed her own hair in exasperation. “I don’t need help! I just need you to _leave_.”

“Why are you so reluctant to ask for help?!” Chloe yelled. “There’s nothing wrong with showing weakness! You can be vulnerable!”

She scoffed, “Rich coming from you.”

“What is that supposed to mean?!”

“Uh, guys…” Sam called to them. He was ignored.

“If there is anyone who is too stubborn to ask for help, it’s you.”

“If you think that I wouldn’t let you know if there was a guy holding my family hostage and threatening yours and Sam’s lives, you are sorely mistaken.”

“That is not what I meant-”

“Guys!”

Nadine jammed her index into Chloe’s chest. “I don’t know what you are so outraged about. You’ve been putting us in danger this whole time, coming along to a mission when you’re still injured. You’re reckless!”

“You’re a coward!” Chloe spat back, leaning further into Nadine’s finger. “You never do anything unless you’re sure to come out on top.”

“GUYS!” Sam roared, loudly and desperately enough this time to actually get Chloe and Nadine to turn to face him. A gunshot rang out. “I hate to interrupt your bickering, but we’ve got company.”

A bullet whizzed past them, another bounced off the golden tomb and struck a wall. Sam scrambled towards them, picking up the gun Chloe had hit out of Nadine’s hand, and crouched down behind the grave to fire back. Chloe ducked as well, but Nadine stayed on her feet. More shots rang out.

“Stop! Hold fire! You’re damaging the treasure!” Nero’s commanded. He appeared in the entrance, absolutely unchanged since the last time she saw him. He wore the same clothes, even his hair was tousled the exact same. “Nadine! I thought we talked about this. What are your friends still doing here?”

She stared back at Nero dumbfounded, unwilling to make eye contact with Sam and Chloe, who peered up at her from behind the tomb.

“They refused to leave.”

“Not my problem, is it?” he asked. He gestured to one of his men and he tossed her his gun. “Get rid of them.”

She caught the weapon and held it; it was warm. Nadine turned it over in her hands silently.

“That wasn’t a suggestion,” Nero said. His moustache quivered. “Or have you forgotten about your family? It’s your choice; either all five of you end up dead or just those two. It’s all the same to me.” His men cocked their guns and trained them on her.

She stretched her arm out; it was steady. She shot the gun out of Sam’s hand before he could point it back at her. They stared at her fearfully. It churned Nadine’s stomach to see Sam and Chloe cower before her, defenceless and afraid. Neither of them said anything. It was all too clear what choice she had made.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I tried to save you.”

“If only we would have-”

Nadine fired five times and cut Chloe off. They slumped to the ground on top of each other; she let the gun drop onto the floor and sank to her knees, trying not to be sick.


	13. Fine

* * *

Nero ordered his men to be gentle; he did not want a single unnecessary scratch on the tomb, or he would be taking it out of their pay check. They had blasted a hole into the mountain and were slowly emptying out Montezuma’s grave through it. Nadine watched them from a corner, sat in front of Sam and Chloe’s bodies like a guard dog. He made her drag them off to the side so they wouldn’t be in the way.

“You made the right choice,” Nero crouched down before her, tilting her chin up with his gun. “Your family will be very grateful.”

Nadine jerked her head away. “Why not just shoot me and be done with it?”

Nero shrugged. “Why should I? You’re hardly a threat to me. And you’ve served me well; I might need you again in the future.” He smacked the gun against his open palm contemplatively. “But I did tell you to make sure your friends were gone before I got here. And because of them, I now have a bullet mark on my tomb.” Nero got to his feet. “I’ll need to have a good long think about how to punish you for that.”

“Will you hurt my family?” she asked, fearful.

“Probably – but nothing too drastic, don’t worry. Just enough to make a point.” His dress shoes squeaked on the stone floor as he walked away from her. “You’ll get them back soon, though. In a few days, once the treasure has been delivered and my client is satisfied. I’ll make sure to drop them off on your front step.”

Nero walked to the exit. The room was almost empty; they’d even taken the torches. He paused at the door and turned around.

“Oh, and I wouldn’t mess with the tracker, if I were you. Not as long as I still have your brother.”

Nadine did not want to respond, but he stared at her until she satisfied him with a curt nod. Only then did he disappear, leaving her alone with the last of his men who were collecting the mounts for the torches. She watched them, but none of them would look back at her. She waited for them to finish, starting to feel cold now that all the fires had been put out. They worked swiftly and left with their arms full of golden metal; someone outside barked that the room had been cleared. She listened to them talk and load their vehicles, the voices slowly becoming less and less. It grew quiet and Nadine could hear their breath echo through the bare chamber. She was alone.

“We’re clear,” she mumbled.

Sam cracked an eye open. Chloe sat up tentatively. She looked down at the bloody fingerprints on her shirt, created by smearing the blood from the wound on her arm. Sam wiped the blood from his throat and examined the spot where Nadine’s bullet grazed his calf. He flinched.

“Ah, stings like a bitch,” he said.

“Had to give you something to work with, didn’t I?” Nadine replied, getting to her feet. “Can’t believe they bought it.”

Chloe held her arm out and Nadine helped her up. “Well, your distress was very believable.”

Sam stood as well. “Anyone have any idea who that asshole is?”

“No clue,” Chloe shook her head. “Never seen him before.”

“Well, we better go after them before we lose sight.” Sam and Chloe nodded at each other, but Nadine barred their way.

“Are you out of your goddamn mind?!” She asked, catching Sam by the shoulder. “You were almost killed back there! Think of what they’ll do to you if they catch you – what they’ll do to my family. You saw that man, he’s insane.”

“So what do you propose we do? Sit around and wait for him to hand over your family out of the goodness of his heart?” Sam gestured towards the exit. “You yourself said he’s insane! Why are you trusting his word?”

“Nadine,” Chloe chipped in. “We need to follow that man and free your mother and brother. We need to get to them before he does and ‘punishes’ them.”

Nadine stepped back, shaking her head. “You’re not doing this for my family. You’re doing this for the treasure, you just want-”

“We are doing this for _you_ ,” Chloe insisted. “Do we also want to shoot that bastard and maybe grab a trinket while we’re at it?” She exchanged looks with Sam. “Yeah, maybe. But that’s not our priority. We’re going to get your family.”

Nadine exhaled heavily and turned her head to the side. Chloe’s hand gently pushed it back to the side and stayed there, cupping her cheek.

“Give us a little credit. We can be good people.”

Her skin felt hot where Chloe touched it and Nadine longed to lean into her hand, but she was uncomfortably aware of Sam’s presence. She took Chloe’s hand off her face and dropped it after giving it a quick squeeze.

“Alright,” she conceded. “Let’s tail that son of a bitch.”

“That’s the spirit!” Chloe hooted. She picked her bag off the floor; Nero had the grace to leave their equipment behind, though he did make sure to collect their weapons. “A high-stakes hostage situation? That’s almost better than a treasure hunt.”

“Is it though?” Sam asked. He tightened the straps on his backpack. “I quite liked how smoothly everything was going for us.”

“Well now you know why it was going so smoothly for us.”

They climbed out of the hole left by Nero’s explosives. He and his troops were still visible in the distance, marching alongside two cars as they wound their way downhill. Nadine, Chloe, and Sam crouched behind a bolder, observing.

“We’ll have to move fast if we don’t want to lose track of them,” Sam said. Nadine agreed.

They made their way down, pausing behind trees and rocks and shrubs to avoid being seen. Chloe struggled to keep up. She kept skidding on the uneven ground; all the excitement – as much as she revelled in her pounding heart – had given her a headache that was making her vision spotty. The base of her skull pounded. She slipped, dislodging rocks and debris that rolled downhill. One of Nero’s men caught the movement out of the corner of his eye and turned around, but Nadine managed to pull Chloe behind a bush before he saw anything.

“Frazer?” she grabbed Chloe’s face by her chin; she had screwed her eyes shut. “Are you okay?”

“Dandy,” Chloe said, attempting to brush Nadine’s hand aside.

“Is it your head?”

“I’m fine.”

Nadine exhaled. “Don’t start.” She sat her bag down and pulled out her water bottle. “Here, drink something.”

“Nadine, I’m losing them…” Sam muttered, anxiously peering over the bush. “We need to keep going.”

“You go ahead, find out where they’re headed. We’ll meet up at the hotel,” Nadine ordered in her best military leader voice. “I’ll take care of Chloe.”

She unstrapped a gun from somewhere under her shirt and handed it to him.

“Where did you-”

“Is now really the time for these questions?” she cut him off. “Go!”

“Yes, ma’am,” Sam saluted. He loaded the gun, checked his surroundings and shot out of the undergrowth.

“Nadine Ross trusting Sam Drake with her last gun,” Chloe mumbled, clutching her temples. “I never thought I would see the day.”

“Well, I wouldn’t have to give him my gun if you weren’t such a-”

“Stubborn dickhead, I know, I know,” Chloe finished for her with a sigh. “You’re starting to sound like a broken record, love.”

“That would also be your fault.” Nadine tucked the bottle back into her backpack, offering her hand to Chloe. “Think you can stand?”

Chloe let herself be pulled to her feet. She steadied herself on Nadine’s shoulder and took a deep breath, trying to regain her vision. It frustrated her that her body was not being compliant.

“Woah, woah,” Nadine caught her as she started to sway. “Sit back down.”

“No, no, let’s go,” she protested, fighting Nadine’s grasp. It only made her told her tighter. “Come on, we can’t leave Sam alone, he’s got-”

“Chloe. Chloe.” Nadine pressed her against her body and Chloe stopped squirming. She brushed strands of black hair from her face. “Sam’s got this. Now _please_. Take it easy.”

Her words were meant to get Chloe to sit down again, but she instead placed her head in the crook of Nadine’s neck and went limp.

“Why did you not tell us sooner?” she mumbled. “We would’ve understood; we could have helped-”

“I didn’t want to put you in any danger.” Nadine rested her chin on the top of Chloe’s head, instinctively stroking her back. “Not you. Not my family. Not even Sam.”

Chloe looked up at Nadine. She believed her; she believed her so much she wanted to kiss her again, but didn’t. It wasn’t the right time yet. She freed herself from Nadine’s arms and took a step back, rubbing her temples.

“How do you manage to lie to me for days, threaten me with a gun, actually _shoot me_ with said gun, and still make me think that you’re a noble hero?” Chloe slung her backpack over her shoulder, smiling. “The things you do to me…”

Nadine watched Chloe stagger off, bemused. _Noble hero, eh?_

“You sure you’re ready to keep going?” she called to her.

“Yep,” Chloe yelled back, balancing herself against a tree. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“You’re going in the wrong direction.”

“It’s a shortcut.”

“You’re walking _away_ from the car,” Nadine slid after Chloe. “Frazer! Frazer, stop before you hurt yourself!”

“Why would I hurt myself, I’m-”

Fingers clamped over her mouth, cutting Chloe’s words off. Nadine stared at her deeply.

“You better not say what I think you’re about to say. I’m warning you,” she removed her hand slowly, almost reluctantly. “Don’t say it.”

Chloe grinned. “I’m fine.”

“Alright, that’s it.” Nadine crouched down, grabbed the back of Chloe’s thighs and lifted her off the ground, throwing her over her shoulder. She chuckled heartily as Chloe squealed and feebly hit her back.

“Okay, okay, put me down! Put me down!” Chloe pleaded light-heartedly. “You’re making my head hurt!”

Nadine lowered her onto the ground gently. They both breathed heavily, hands on their hips.

“Say it,” Nadine said.

“Say what?” Chloe asked.

“Say you’re not fine.”

Chloe rolled her eyes. She glanced away, but upon looking back saw that Nadine was still watching her expectantly. “Oh, you’re serious.”

“Say it,” Nadine insisted, motioning with her head. She crossed her arms. “I want you to admit it.”

Chloe leaned against a boulder. She enjoyed how demanding Nadine was being, how well she knew her. It was useless to continue arguing that she was in perfect shape anyways – even Chloe recognised that she wasn’t. There had been too much stumbling, too many close calls.

“Alright!” Chloe conceded, throwing her hands up. “I might not be… totally, one hundred percent… fine. Yet!”

Nadine smiled. Of course she had to add _yet_. “And? What else?”

“What more do you want from me?” Chloe whined. “I just bared my heart and soul to you.”

“Do you need my help to get down this mountain?”

Chloe pouted. “Yes.”

“Say the whole thing. Say, _Nadine, I need your help to get down this mountain because I can’t do it on my own; you were right this whole time_ -”

“Oh shut up, you’re so full of yourself,” Chloe smacked her arm. “So are you going to help me or not?” Nadine pretended to consider it. “Please. I need you.”

Those were the magic words. She slung her backpack across her front and walked towards Chloe backwards. “Hop on.”

“Hot.”

Nadine shot her an exasperated look. “Do you want my help or not?”

Chloe climbed onto Nadine’s back and was lifted off the ground. Nadine continued their descent, this time at twice the speed now that Chloe’s dizziness was no longer slowing them down. She could feel Chloe’s face pressed against the side of her neck, her lips on her shoulder. Chloe purposefully tugged at Nadine’s shirt as inconspicuously as possible so that her lips would be on her bare skin. She couldn’t remember a time where she had felt so cared for.

“You know, when I imagined riding you-”

Nadine leapt over a rock, causing Chloe’s teeth to clatter together and the pain in her head to flare up.

“Don’t make me drop you, Frazer.”


	14. Limited Budget

* * *

Sam tried to wash the blood off his trousers at a public fountain; he had to clean up a bit if he wanted to make it through the hotel lobby unnoticed. _At least it’s not my blood_ , he thought.

He had managed to trail Nero’s men undetected all the way down the mountain. As much as he enjoyed having company, there was something uniquely exciting about being all on his own and having everything ride on him. Sam watched them get into cars and hotwired a nearby motorcycle to be able to keep up. He followed them at a safe distance to a large, run-down estate on the outskirts of Salt Lake City. It took him a while before he was able to sneak onto the grounds, drag one of Nero’s men into the undergrowth unseen, and convince him to tell him where they were headed with the treasure.

The lobby was pretty empty; nobody paid him any mind. He breathed a sigh of relief in the lift, watching himself toss the lighter in the air through the mirror.

He took his time in his room, convinced that he’d beaten Chloe and Nadine to the hotel. Judging the way Chloe was struggling to keep upright the last time he saw her, Sam wouldn’t have been surprised if it took them all day to get down that mountain. He showered, changed his clothes, and raided the minibar before leisurely making his way down the hall, drink in hand.

“Took you long enough.” Nadine opened the door before Sam even had a chance to knock.

He raised his lowered fist. “What? How did you get here so fast?”

“She insisted on carrying me down the mountain,” Chloe replied, peering up at him from beneath the wet towel on her forehead. She lay on a neatly made bed; it didn’t seem like Nadine had joined her.

Sam stepped inside and took a seat in the armchair. He swirled his drink and took a sip. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m okay. I just need to humour her or she goes apeshit,” Chloe added in a whisper.

Nadine overheard but refrained from jumping in. If Chloe needed to keep up the tough act in front of Sam, she would let her. She gave her a glass of water and sat down on the edge of the bed.

“So? Did you find out where they’re headed?”

Sam nodded. “They’re going to take a boat tomorrow from San Diego to Manzanillo, in Mexico. The guy I got my hands on didn’t know if that was their final stop, and I didn’t want to push my luck.”

“Guess we’re going to have to sneak onto that boat,” Chloe said, peeling the towel off her forehead and letting it drop onto the floor. Nadine picked it up.

Sam unlocked his phone and typed into the search bar. “There’s a flight later tonight to San Diego. I don’t know about you guys, but I’m getting sick of all those long drives.”

“Fine,” Nadine shrugged. “But we still have one problem.” She rolled up her sleeve and pointed to the wound that marked the spot where the tracking chip lay. “What are we going to do about this?”

“What do you mean?” Chloe asked, stealing a sip from Sam’s drink. “We’ll cut it out.”

“You heard what Nero said. He told me not to mess with it.”

“Nero will never know,” Chloe said plainly and sat up. “I’ll be really careful; I’ll do a good job.”

“You? You can barely keep your hands steady,” Nadine objected.

“So you’d rather have Sam do it?”

“Oh, I really don’t-” he shifted in his chair uncomfortably. “That’s probably not the best-”

“Calm down, Drake,” Nadine ordered. “I’m not letting you cut me.”

Chloe got off the bed and retrieved a first aid kit from under her table, searching it for a surgical knife, gauze, disinfectant, tweezers, and some bandages. Having gathered her materials, she placed them on the bed next to Nadine and knelt down between her legs. Sam took that as his cue to leave.

“I’m not good with surgery stuff – makes me queasy,” he declared, rising from his chair. “I’ll go pack my bags and meet you when it’s time to leave for the airport.”

“You do that,” Chloe said, wiping down Nadine’s forearm with rubbing alcohol. The smell burned her nostrils, but she did not want to lean back. Her head was close enough to be brushing Nadine’s chest.

Sam told them to be in the lobby by eight and left the room. Chloe opened the sterile packaging on the scalpel.

“Do you want to take some of my pills before I start?” Chloe offered. “Or a swig of this?” She held the alcohol up to Nadine’s nose, who recoiled from the harsh smell.

“Thanks, I’m good,” she declined.

“You know, you don’t have to act tough around me either,” Chloe said coyly. “You’re going to have to be very still.”

“I’ll manage.”

Chloe rolled her eyes but didn’t push Nadine on it any further. She cut along the already existing wound, opening it back up. Nadine gritted her teeth. She tried not to flinch. Chloe wiped the blood off with the gauze and deepened the wound further, feeling Nadine’s thighs tense up under her arms. It was distracting to have her squirm like that.

“Be still.”

“I am!” Nadine hissed. “Just hurry up, ja?”

Chloe shook her head, holding the wound open with her tweezers, searching for the tracker. Nadine focused on Chloe’s face – anything that would take her mind off the pain. She watched her lips curl into a slight smirk.

“What are you smiling about?” she asked.

“Oh, you know,” Chloe shrugged, reaching for more gauze. “Just enjoying the payback.”

“Payback?”

“Yeah. You’ve shot at me, actually _shot_ me, and once sucker punched me so hard I fell. Or have you forgotten?” Chloe deepened the incision; Nadine screwed her eyes shut and sucked air in through your teeth. “Kind of feels like I deserve this.”

Nadine shook her head. “You’re a sadist.”

“And you like-” Chloe spotted the tracker and fell quiet. She extracted it slowly with the tweezers, careful not to damage it. She placed it on a piece of gauze for them to marvel at. “ _Et voilà_ , there you go!”

Nadine let herself drop onto the bed, breathing a sigh of relief. “Fucking _finally_.”

“Hey, hey, sit up, you’re bleeding all over my bed,” Chloe hauled her upright by her unaffected arm. “Let me bandage you up.”

She disinfected the wound and wrapped the dressing tightly around her arm. She took the gauze with the tracker on it and folded it over, stuffing it into an envelope which she addressed to Nadine’s house in South Africa.

“Did you memorise my address?” Nadine asked, peering over her shoulder. The pain in her arm had died down to a dull throb.

Chloe shrugged, licking the back of a stamp and sticking it onto the paper. “Probably best not to let your mum open this. There’s still bits of you stuck to the chip.”

*

Sam stood up from his chair upon spotting them in the lobby.

“All good to go?”

Chloe held up a letter. “Just need to post this.”

She tossed it into a letter box on their way to the airport, where they checked their luggage and made their way through security to their gate. It was getting late and once in the airplane, Sam put his head on Chloe’s shoulder, who in turn leaned against Nadine. They were asleep before the plane even took off. Nadine didn’t complain even though it made her flight less comfortable. They were here for her; the least she could do was let them sleep. She asked a flight attendant for a blanket and covered them with it.

“Thanks, china,” Chloe mumbled, eyes still closed.

“Don’t mention it.”

They landed in San Diego and took a bus to the harbour, eyes peeled for any sight of Nero and his men. Sam checked them into the closest hotel; it was seedy and practically empty, but its windows allowed for a view of the docks. He thanked the receptionist and handed Chloe a key.

“Where’s my key?” Nadine asked.

“Yeah, I only got us two rooms,” Sam explained. “Our stay at that hotel in Utah wasn’t exactly cheap, so we’re running on a limited budget.”

“Limited budget?” she repeated, raising an eyebrow. “Nero handed me three thousand dollars for the job; how have we already burnt through it?”

“We haven’t. And we won’t, if we make a few cuts.” He patted his coat where he kept the remaining cash and pressed a button for the lift. “Goodnight, ladies. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Chloe twirled the key around her finger. “Looks like we’ll be sharing again tonight. Unless you’d rather share with Sam.”

“Why is it that I have to share?” Nadine asked. “How come you won’t share a room?”

“Oh, I could.” Chloe brushed past her on the way to the lift. “But I know you don’t want me to.”

Nadine said nothing in return. Chloe would have seen right through the lie.

Their room was barely big enough to comfortably fit the double bed. Chloe tossed her bag hard enough for it to hit the opposite wall and burst open; she paid the mess no mind and let herself flop onto the bed.

“Well, at least it’s bigger than a sleeping bag.”

Nadine set about unpacking her clothes, pyjamas, and toiletries, laying them down on the bed with military precision. Chloe lay on her side and watched her, endeared by how tenderly she handled the neatly folded laundry. Nadine locked herself in the bathroom to change and brush her teeth. As she inspected herself in the mirror, she found herself fretting over her pyjamas, trying to make herself look better in them. Not that she expected anything to happen between Chloe and her, and yet… Why did her pyjamas make her feel so vulnerable?

On the other side of the door, Chloe kicked off her shoes and trousers, and pulled her bra out from under her shirt. She never bothered with pyjamas; they took up too much luggage space. The lock clicked and Chloe’s heart skipped a beat. She reprimanded herself for getting so excited over something so minor.

“Go ahead,” Nadine said, tidying her stuff away.

“Thanks, love,” Chloe climbed over the bed and into the bathroom. She left the door open while brushing her teeth, leaning against the counter so that her shirt rose over her ass.

Nadine could see right through her; it make it any easier to look away, though.

Chloe turned the lights off and joined Nadine in bed, keeping a safe, professional distance. Nadine’s bedside lamp was still on as she studied the map of the port.

“What are you doing?” Chloe moved a little closer.

“Trying to figure out where Nero’s boat is going to leave from,” she said, brows furrowed in concentration. “It will probably be from somewhere here, in the western slots.”

Chloe shrugged. “Maybe. Let’s just see tomorrow; it’s not like we’ll miss them.”

Nadine folded the map and put it aside reluctantly. It was not her style to just show up to unknown places and hope for things to work out; she needed plans and certainty, but she wasn’t going to get them from staring at that map anyways. As risk-averse as Nadine was, she knew that some risks you had to take. She reached for the light switch and paused. She turned around to look at Chloe.

“How did you find out where I live?”

Chloe smirked and flipped onto her stomach, folding her arms under the pillow. Her eyes seemed blue in the light as she gazed up at Nadine.

“Your brother told me.”

“What?” Nadine exclaimed. “Isaac told – you’ve spoken to Isaac?”

“Well not in person,” Chloe said. “I found him on Facebook and messaged him asking where you live so that I might come visit.”

“And he told you? Just like that?” Nadine rubbed her forehead. “Jesus – what other strangers has he been giving our address to?”

“Oh well, _apparently_ I’m not a stranger,” Chloe smirked. “ _Apparently_ you talk a lot about me. He recognised me from the pictures you showed him of our last trip.”

Nadine clenched her fists, hoping to redirect blood that way to keep herself from going beet red. Oh, she couldn’t wait to get her hands on her brother. He would wish she had never come for him.

“Don’t go too hard on Isaac,” Chloe said, seemingly reading Nadine’s mind. “I had to coax it out of him a little. And you know how hard it is to resist me.”

Nadine scoffed and reached for the switch again. “Goodnight-”

“No, wait. It’s my turn to ask a question now,” Chloe protested.

“Oh, is it?” Nadine asked bemusedly. She enjoyed the childish earnest in Chloe’s nod. “What do you want to know?”

Chloe let her hand travel under the blanket until it landed on Nadine’s stomach. She let it slip under her shirt.

“Fraz-”

“How did you get this?” Her fingers traced the scar on Nadine’s stomach. “The nurses in France said it was from a knife, but the guys at London didn’t have any. They had guns.”

Nadine felt her whole body erupt in goose bumps. She didn’t know whether to push Chloe’s hand away or ask her to touch her with both. So she tried to remain as still as possible, trying not to show on her face how much she was enjoying Chloe stroking her skin. Chloe watched her attentively.

“It didn’t happen in the museum. It happened at the train station, while the paramedic was treating you,” she said softly. “I had her at gunpoint and told her to make sure you wouldn’t die in the next few hours while I got you to a hospital. When she finished patching you up, I tucked my gun away so I could pick you up and that’s when she tried to attack me with a scalpel.” Nadine chuckled. “Only got one slash in before I kicked her square in the chest and sent her flying. Poor woman was terrified.”

Chloe stopped grazing Nadine’s skin with her fingers and lay her hand flat against her stomach, feeling the firm muscles and steady heartbeat under her palm. She gazed into Nadine’s eyes and noticed how unusually gentle they were; it made her heart pound to think that it could be because she was looking at her. Chloe’s hand pulled out from under Nadine’s shirt and travelled up, brushing over her chest, and settling on her shoulder. She used it to pull herself upright and straddle Nadine.

Nadine’s hands came down on either side of Chloe’s waist automatically, like they couldn’t help but hold onto her. She braced for a kiss but none came.

“Did you really leave because you thought I was a liability?”

Chloe’s face was close enough for Nadine to feel the heat of her breath. The question threw her; it surprised her enough to make her unable to lie.

“I couldn’t stay and watch you hurt yourself.”

Chloe brushed a strand of Nadine’s hair behind her ear, settling more comfortably in her lap. She brushed her thumb over her cheek; blushing suited her.

“So what I’m getting is that you like me so much that you couldn’t stand to see me in danger-”

“Shut up,” Nadine pushed Chloe’s shoulder lightly, nowhere near hard enough to knock her off her lap. Nadine didn’t think she would ever want Chloe off her lap.

“You are so enamoured with me, you would rather forsake a treasure than-”

“You are so full of yourself!”

“Well you were the one who said-”

Nadine grabbed the collar of Chloe’s shirt and pulled her down into a kiss. Chloe shut up willingly. She grabbed the sides of Nadine’s face and squeezed her body with her thighs, enjoying the way Nadine’s grip on her tightened when she did so. Finally. _Finally_. They were alone together, in a room, and touching each other uninhibitedly. _Took you bloody long enough_ , she thought.

Nadine’s mind was racing; she struggled to understand, to believe, what was happening. Her hands wandered under Chloe’s shirt, gently raking Chloe’s firm back under her nails as she kissed down her neck. Nadine wasn’t thick; she knew Chloe was flirting with her, but she never thought it serious or genuine. It was Chloe. That was her style. Nadine liked to think that if she had known that Chloe’s advances were genuine, she wouldn’t have waited so long to respond to them.

Chloe grabbed Nadine by the shoulder to pull her on top of her. She wanted nothing more than to be pressed into the bed by her, feel all contours of her body hard against her own. Her enthusiasm turned out to be her downfall; the back of Chloe’s head whacked against the headboard during the manoeuvre, causing a blinding pain to flare up instantly. She failed to suppress a yelp.

“Chloe, are you-” Nadine broke off. She had accidentally put all her weight on her hurt arm and watched as blood began to pour out of the wound anew, soaking the bandages. “Shit. Shit, I’ll be right back.”

She hurried into the bathroom to change the dressing before blood got everywhere. Chloe lay with her eyes closed, trying to breathe through the pain. How had it all gone so wrong so fast?

“Frazer, here. Have some water.”

“No,” Chloe whined, sensing Nadine’s shift in tone. The moment had passed. “No, don’t ‘Frazer’ me. Come back here. Get on top.”

Nadine sat down next to her and slipped a hand under her neck – not to kiss her, like Chloe hoped, but to force her upright. She handed her a glass and her medication.

“Take these.”

“I don’t want them.” Nadine would definitely not touch her once she was high out of her mind. “I’m good.”

“Chloe-”

“Let’s just go back to what-”

Nadine climbed onto Chloe’s lap and forced the water and medication into her hands. Chloe accepted defeat with a dejected expression. At least she got to know what it felt like to have Nadine on top, hard to choose which she preferred. She rolled one of the capsules between her fingers.

“There’s no way we’ll keep going after I’ve taken these, is there?”

Nadine chuckled and shook her head. “I prefer my partners conscious.”

“Duly noted,” Chloe said before swallowing the pill.

“Good girl,” Nadine praised her softly and Chloe cursed herself even harder for being so clumsy. She’d have to get Nadine to call her a good girl some other time.

“Let me spoon you?” Chloe asked. “Professionally?”

Nadine rolled her eyes and for a moment it seemed like she might refuse, but she didn’t, and willingly backed into Chloe instead.

“See, I knew you were a little spoon at heart,” Chloe murmured, running her fingers through Nadine’s hair.

“You got me.”

“I know I do.”


	15. Your Turn, Partner

* * *

“Alright.” Sam’s voice was static through the walkie-talkie. “They leave from slot E14 in forty-five minutes; I’ll meet you there.”

“Roger that,” Chloe replied. She and Nadine were crouched behind some containers, awaiting an update from Sam, who had gone to break into the office. Chloe tried to jam the device into her already full bag.

“Here, just gave me the HT,” Nadine offered. Her neatly organised backpack had room to spare.

“The what?”

“The HT,” she repeated; Chloe looked no less confused. “Handheld transceiver? This thing.”

“Mate, this is a walkie-talkie,” she said. “Who on _earth_ calls it a ‘HT’? Is than an army thing?”

“No, it’s the proper name,” Nadine said. “Just give it to me-”

Nadine reached for the walkie-talkie, but Chloe held it outside her reach. She grinned. “Say it again.”

“Give me-”

They struggled for the device and Chloe’s hands ended up above her head, pinned to the cold metal of the container as Nadine pried the walkie-talkie out of her hands. She let go of it and watched as Nadine stowed it in her own bag, still restraining Chloe one-handedly. Being forced into submission made her stomach tingle. Nadine zipped her backpack shut and looked down at Chloe, who tried to reach up with her face to kiss her. Nadine pressed her hands against the metal harder in response.

“We’ve got a ship to catch,” she said, leaning in close enough for her breath to tickle Chloe’s neck.

“It’ll be quick, just a kiss,” Chloe replied. For a moment it seemed that Nadine might comply with her wishes, but then she released Chloe and stood up.

“Tease.” Chloe rubbed her wrists and got to her feet. The tingling in her stomach had tripled.

Nadine chuckled. “Talk about the pot calling the kettle black, eh?”

“Don’t start talking to me in idioms, it’s too early for that,” Chloe complained. “Let’s just get on this boat.”

The western wing of the port was practically deserted. They wove in between containers, partially disassembled ships, and gasoline tanks. Sam waited for them behind a crate. Chloe had kissed his cheek that morning over breakfast – her way to thank him for his “limited budget” stunt, he assumed. Little did he know that nothing outrageously saucy had happened between them due to Chloe’s clumsiness.

“Took you long enough. What were you – no, wait. I don’t want to know,” he shook his head. “They’re loading the treasure right now. It’s too busy to sneak in.”

Nero’s men swarmed about the boat, wheeling in crates and provisions; there were far too many of them for Nadine, Chloe, and Sam to go unnoticed.

“We’ll have to wait for them to all go aboard,” Chloe said.

“And then what?”

She pulled out two grappling guns. “Then we hitch a ride.”

Sam took the one she held out to him. He inspected it, letting out a low whistle. “And let me guess, you’ll be sharing one?”

“Naturally,” Chloe handed the other to Nadine. “Sorry, love. I couldn’t get my hands on a third.”

Nadine shrugged. “Should be fine.”

“Well, you know what they say about couples who use grappling guns together,” Sam said. “They stay-”

“We’re not a couple,” Nadine cut him off.

Chloe leaned towards Sam and whispered, “Yet.”

“I heard that.”

“Good,” Chloe grinned. “Then you know my intentions.”

Nadine bit her cheek in an effort to keep her face neutral; she could feel herself draw blood.

They waited for Nero’s men to slowly disappear into the boat. It was an enormous fishing vessel, likely the only ship they could find on such short notice. The black steel hull groaned and creaked as the ramps were drawn up and the propeller started. The water around it grew frothy as the boat slowly exited the harbour.

“Now, go!”

Nadine led the sprint. She ran all the way to the end of the dock and readied the gun, aiming for one of the metal structures used to secure the fishing nets. Chloe jumped onto her back and wrapped her legs around Nadine’s waist.

“Mind if I join?”

“Just hold on.”

She fired the gun and managed to wedge the hook between two poles. Nadine gripped the gun tightly and let it pull her into the air, feeling Chloe wrap herself tighter around her body. When she had woken up that morning, they had been in a similar position. Nadine had carefully disentangled herself from Chloe’s limbs and stood up to go to the bathroom, but not before taking a good long look at the peacefully sleeping, half-naked woman. She struggled to wipe the grin from her face.

“Thanks for the ride, partner,” Chloe whispered, climbing off Nadine’s back and slowly scaling the side of the ship. Sam was somewhere further to their right also making his way up to the deck. “Let me check if it’s all clear.”

She peered over the edge and saw that it was empty, except for two lonely guards at the far end with their backs turned to them. She waved Nadine and Sam up, and they made their way across the deck silently, aiming for an open door in the superstructure. They needed some place to hide out in for the duration of the journey. Sam pressed himself against the wall and glanced into the empty hallway. He motioned for the other two to join him and they crept down the long corridor, hiding in supply closets or empty bathrooms whenever they heard a sound. Eventually they made it to a rickety metal staircase and followed it down into a huge room full of nets, baskets, spears and traps. The smell of the ocean was overpowering. So this was where Nero had decided to dump all of the boats’ fishing gear.

Sam closed the door behind them and rolled a full barrel labelled _BAIT_ in front of it to barricade it shut. He let himself sink into one of the folded nets.

“As good a hiding spot as any.”

Nadine took her bag off and sat down on a crate. “Stinks like algae.”

“Yeah, well, beggars can’t be choosers.”

Chloe pulled out a deck of cards and tossed it at Nadine. “What do you say, to pass the time?”

She gave it back to Chloe. “Not really in the mood for cards.”

“Oh come on, just a quick game of sevens. Or bullshit. Crazy eights?”

Sam propped himself up on one arm. “I’ll play baccarat.”

“Okay, baccarat it is,” she shuffled the deck. “Come on, we need a third.”

Nadine shifted; she did not know a single card game and was reluctant to let them know. She knew what their reactions would be. They’d laugh, and then they’d try to teach her.

“Just play something else then,” Nadine said as nonchalantly as possible.

“Don’t be mean, come on,” Chloe pleaded.

“We don’t even need to bet money. We can bet… uh…” Sam searched the net he lay on and picked something off it. “This! Tiny… fish bones.”

“Don’t be revolting.”

“How about balls of seaweed?”

“I’m not going to play,” she insisted. “You’ll just have to play something other than backgammon.”

Chloe stopped shuffling the deck. “Baccarat.”

“Yeah, that. Whatever.”

She lay the cards to the side. “Do you not know how to play baccarat?”

Nadine paused for too long. She conceded defeat. “No.”

“Okay, well, we can play something else. What do you know?”

Nadine twisted her hands together in her lap, acutely aware of how intensely Sam and Chloe were observing her. They were slowly coming in closer.

“Rummy? Poker? Old Maid? Slapjack?” Chloe launched one final attempt. “Not even _go fish_?!”

Nadine flicked hair out of her face, “Can we talk about something else?”

“Did you not have a childhood?” Sam asked pitifully. “That’s a serious question, by the way. I really do want to know if the children of mercenary army leaders have childhoods.”

“They do,” she retorted. “…sort of. Anyways, it never involved cards.”

“Oh, china, we need to teach you-”

“You do not-”

“Yes, we do. Come on, Sam,” Chloe waved him closer. “Or can you think of a better way to spend a day-long boat ride?”

“I can think of-”

“Great, then it’s settled,” she interrupted her. “Come here, sit on the floor. We’ll start with go fish.”

“No, definitely crazy eights,” Sam objected.

“What? No, that should be third. Or fourth.”

“Why? What’s so fundamental about go fish, Chloe?”

Nadine slid off the crate while Sam and Chloe argued over what to teach her first. She picked the deck up, still in its cardboard box, and emptied it into her hand. Shuffling cards was hard; how had Chloe made it look so easy?

“Should we just settle on snap then?”

“Snap is too easy. It doesn’t lead on to-”

“Well, we can’t agree on any other game!”

“Alright, fine!” Chloe conceded. She quickly caught the card Nadine was about to let fall and scooted in closer, placing her legs in Nadine’s lap. “Here, let me teach you the suits.”

They spent hours instructing Nadine how to play, and she was terrible at every single game. It was more than just inexperience; it was a real inability to play. Chloe – who had never seen Nadine be bad at anything – found it ridiculously funny. She couldn’t even win if they let her, and Sam and Chloe were actively and repeatedly sabotaging each other to give her an advantage. She’d lose anyways. Nadine was insistent, though, and played round after round, game after game, for hours, never conceding defeat.

“Okay, that should be enough.” Chloe tossed her cards onto the floor halfway through a game of poker, stretching her aching back. Her legs were still in Nadine’s lap; they had never left it.

“Yeah,” Sam dropped his cards too. “Ross, you stink.”

“I only just learned how to play!” she replied defensively, childishly. Chloe found it endearing to see Nadine try so hard and yet fail so miserably; it was so unlike her.

Sam got to his feet. “No, you’re genuinely awful.” He cracked his back and groaned loudly before setting about trying to roll the barrel out of the way.

“What are you doing, mate?” Chloe asked.

“We’ve been here for hours,” he said, straining against the barrel. “I need to piss. And I’m going to see if I can find the treasure, plant this on it.”

He threw a black cube at Nadine, who caught it deftly. “A tracker?”

“A tracker,” Sam confirmed. Nadine tossed it back to him. “Nero’s little stunt gave me some ideas. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go explore.”

He slipped through the door and closed it gently. Nadine rolled the barrel back into place and sat on it. It was quiet, or as quiet as it could get on a large ship on the ocean. The faint sound of footsteps and voices came from overhead, almost drowned out by the much closer sound of machinery and waves lapping against the hull of the ship. Nadine’s gaze travelled from the porthole to Chloe, who collected the discarded cards on the ground; their eyes met. Chloe smiled.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” she asked, putting the cards in their box.

“Like what?”

Chloe tossed the deck aside. “Like you want me.”

Nadine threw her head back and laughed. She watched Chloe stand up and walk over to her, with a devilish spark in her eyes. It made her stomach flutter. “Has anyone ever told you you’re a narcissist?”

“No, it’s usually just stubborn dickhead,” Chloe said, uncrossing Nadine’s legs with her hands and taking a seat on her lap. “Or something along those lines.”

“Well, you’re definitely both.” Nadine let Chloe tilt her face up by her chin. She leaned in close, but Nadine could tell by the sly grin that she was not going to kiss her yet.

“It doesn’t make you want me any less though, does it?”

As much as Nadine enjoyed having Chloe in control, it was starting to feel like she had been in control for too long. She was growing too accustomed to it. Nadine wanted to know what it would be like to have her squirm under her grip for once. She grabbed Chloe’s hips and jumped to her feet, rapidly spinning on her heels to pin Chloe up against the wall before the other could register what was happening. Her back hit the wall and the impact made her body tingle.

“You want me to want you,” Nadine said in a low voice.

“Yes,” Chloe whispered back, laughing. “Yes, I fucking do.”

Nadine kissed her hard, hard enough to press the back of Chloe’s head into the wall, but she easily ignored the pain. This was too good to miss out on. Again.

Chloe’s legs wrapped around Nadine’s waist and her hands roamed from Nadine’s face, to her hair, down her neck, and to her strong shoulders. Chloe squeezed them and let her hands glide under the shirt to gently run her nails down Nadine’s back. Never before had she wanted to touch, and be touched by, someone this badly. She dug her nails in harder, as though that might satisfy her longing; somehow it only made it worse.

Nadine – quite literally – had her hands full with Chloe’s ass while she did that, partly to keep Chloe lifted, but mostly because that ass damn near hypnotized her every time she saw it. She could feel Chloe start to lift her shirt. Nadine grabbed her wrists suddenly and pinned them against the wall forcefully, eliciting a moan from Chloe. She broke their kiss off to be able to see Chloe’s face.

“You’re pretty strong,” Chloe said, attempting to wiggle her hands free, but Nadine kept them in place easily.

“Ja.”

The breathy _ja_ sparked more butterflies in Chloe’s stomach. She unwrapped her legs, placed them on Nadine’s hips and kicked her away. Nadine stumbled backwards and landed on one of the folded nets. Chloe walked towards her slowly.

“But not strong enough.”

Nadine reached out to grab Chloe by her belt, and pulled her back on top. Chloe drew her shirt over her head and leaned back in for a kiss before Nadine could get a proper eyeful. She tugged at Nadine’s shirt and this time Nadine relinquished it willingly, more than happy to have her naked skin pressed up against Chloe’s. She was warm and smooth and firm, and Nadine loved how desperately she embraced her, how urgently she grinded against her body.

Nadine wound Chloe’s hair around her hand and pulled it back, exposing her neck which she kissed gently while unfastening Chloe’s bra. Chloe let it slide down her arms and tossed it somewhere behind her. She withdrew a little to allow Nadine to take in the view. Nadine ran her fingers along Chloe’s torso lightly, gently brushing over her nipples, making Chloe bite the inside of her cheek. She nodded at Nadine.

“Your turn, partner.”

Nadine sat up and let Chloe unhook her bra. Chloe forced her back by her shoulders and lay down on top of her, arching her back while they kissed to further press their bare chests together. Nadine’s open palm came down hard on Chloe’s ass. Chloe pulled away from the kiss to look at Nadine.

“Ow,” she said. “That hurt.”

Nadine smacked her again, paying close attention to Chloe’s face to catch it twitch slightly.

“Tell me to stop then.”

Chloe rolled her eyes and laughed. “Way to call me on my bluff.”

Nadine pulled her into another kiss by the back of her neck. She tugged at her belt while Chloe unzipped her trousers and slid them off. They continued to grab and tear at each other until they were both naked, at which point Nadine rolled Chloe over to be on top. She stopped to look at Chloe. Her face was flushed; there were marks on her skin from Nadine’s nails. She was panting and sweating and absolutely gorgeous.

Chloe cupped her face, “Everything alright?”

“Ja, just… trying to appreciate what’s happening.” She gently brushed loose hair out of Chloe’s face.

Chloe kissed Nadine deeply and much more tenderly than before in response. She withdrew a little and ran her thumb along Nadine’s lower lip.

“Oh, but I haven’t even started yet.”

*

Nadine lay with her head on Chloe’s chest; she could feel the other’s strong, steady heartbeat against her cheek. Chloe stroked Nadine’s arm absentmindedly, eyes trained on the porthole in front of them. It was dark. She felt at peace.

“That happened,” Nadine mumbled. Her head still swam with the events of the past half hour. Or had it been an hour? Two? Surely it hadn’t been three. She couldn’t tell – not that it mattered.

“That definitely happened,” Chloe agreed. _Oh, it happened alright_.

“What now?” Nadine asked, crossing her arms under her chin and gazing up at Chloe. She had never seen her so calm.

Chloe chuckled. “Now,” she tucked strands of hair behind Nadine’s ear. Nadine caught her hand and kissed its palm. “We go save your family.”

“And then?”

“And then we’ll see,” she pinched Nadine’s cheek. “I’m not going anywhere. Relax-”

“You’ll live longer,” Nadine finished for her.

“Exactly.”

Nadine put her head back on Chloe’s chest and listened to her rhythmic breathing, sensed her stomach expand and contract under her own. It didn’t feel real, and yet it was also the realest thing she had ever experienced. She allowed herself to melt into Chloe and empty her mind of everything that wasn’t them.

Chloe hoped they would never have to get up.

Sam, however, had other plans. He knocked on the door sharply, and Nadine and Chloe’s heads snapped up in response. He knocked again.

“Guys, I’m back.”

Chloe and Nadine scrambled to their feet. Nadine dove for her shirt and trousers, while Chloe simply wrapped herself in the sleeping bag they had been laying on and went to answer the door.

“Chloe!” Nadine hissed. “Wait!”

“We need to let him in,” Chloe responded matter-of-factly and rolled the barrel out of the way.

Sam heard the barricade move and pushed the door open. He slipped inside and leaned against the closed door, breathing hard.

“Why didn’t you answer your phones? I’ve been gone for-”

Sam broke off. He only just realised Chloe’s state of undress, her tousled hair and the red bite marks on the base of her neck. Nadine was turned away from him, tightening her belt.

“Oh,” he said. “ _Oh_. I see.” He extended a low fist for Chloe to bump outside of Nadine’s line of sight. “Is this a bad moment? Should I come back some other time?”

“Just turn around while I get dressed,” Chloe said and Sam faced the door. He heard the sleeping bag fall to the ground.

“Why were you gone for so long?” Nadine asked, trying to regain some sense of professionalism. She herself didn’t even know why she still bothered.

“Took me a while to find the treasure and get the tracker set up,” he explained. “Then I got lost trying to find the way back here. Had to spend half an hour in a supply closet before the hallway cleared. But then I saw a sign pointing to the captain’s office, so I decided to go see if I could figure out where we’re heading after Manzanillo-”

“Ah ah! Don’t turn around yet,” Chloe ordered, pulling a shirt over her head.

“Sorry. Anyways, I managed to eavesdrop on their conversation and they’re going to load the treasure onto trucks to take it to Guadalajara once we dock.”

“Okay, Sam. You’re good now.” Chloe tucked her shirt into her trousers and sat down on a crate.

“Thank you, much obliged,” he said, turning around. He scanned the room. “Where is it safe for me to sit?”

Nadine and Chloe exchanged looks.

“That side of the room is fine,” Nadine said, gesturing at the left half of the room.

“Really?! All this-?!” he exclaimed, not without a little admiration. “You were all over…? Jesus… you _animals_.”

Chloe shrugged, “You were gone for quite a while.”

“I guess… Still. Not bad. You must have-”

“Drake, don’t-” Nadine said with a pained expression, holding up her hand.

“Right, sorry,” he conceded. “I will refrain from remarking on your sexual relationships.”

“Thank you,” she said sourly.

“Anyways, I have a phone call to make.” Sam got his phone out and began to dial. “I know someone who could give us a lift to Guadalajara.”


	16. The Original Mission

* * *

“Chloe Frazer, as I live and breathe. Never thought we’d cross paths again.”

Chloe opened her arms in preparation for a hug.

“Good to see you again, Sully.”

They embraced and she inhaled the familiar scent of cigars and aftershave. Victor Sullivan held her at arm’s length and squeezed her shoulder.

“How’s life been treating you?”

“Oh, you know. Same old, same old,” she said. “Nothing that would surprise you.”

“Not a lot does,” he conceded. “Although this-” Sully took the cigar out of his mouth to motion to the two people behind her, “This is a very strange combination.”

“Yeah,” Chloe glanced at Sam and Nadine over her shoulder. “But we make it work.”

“Victor!” Sam dropped his bag to hug Sully. “How are you, old man?”

“Not too shabby,” he said, clapping Sam on the back.

“We stopped by Nate’s a few days ago; I have some pictures of Cassie to show you.”

“Can’t wait to see them.”

Sully turned his attention to Nadine and extended a hand. “Nadine Ross.”

She took it in hers and shook it warmly, firmly. “Victor.”

“Nice to be on the same side, for once,” he grinned. “Always wanted to know what it would be like to work together.”

“Well, today is your lucky day,” she replied. Nadine liked him, why she could not say. He vaguely reminded her of her own father. The fact that they had actively tried to kill each other only added to it.

“So it would seem.”

He stepped back and motioned for them to follow him to his car. Sam fell in step next to him and lifted Sully’s lighter from his pocket to light a cigarette.

“Do you know where exactly you need to go in Guadalajara?” Sully asked, snatching the lighter from Sam before he could let it slip into his own pocket.

Sam pulled out a GPS, which indicated a blinking dot on a map. “We’ll go wherever the treasure goes.”

“I can work with that.”

Sully led them to an old, turquoise convertible parked outside the harbour. It was a little scratched up and dented, but that only gave it character – or so Sully liked to think. Sam let out a low whistle.

“Not bad.”

Sully held the keys out to Chloe. “I hear you’re a good driver.”

“You serious?” she asked. Nadine next to her smiled at the excitement in her voice. Sully nodded and Chloe seized the keys from his hand.

She hopped into the driver’s seat without opening the door, running her hands over the white leather steering wheel. Sam got in beside her, only for Nadine to slap the car door and make him jump.

“What?”

“Get in the back,” she said, motioning with her head.

“What? No! Why do you always get to ride shotgun?!” Sam protested.

“Not for _me_ ,” she argued. “For Victor.”

“Oh, that’s alright, Nadine,” Sully said. “I’m fine in the back.”

She paid him no mind and continued to stare down Sam.

“See? He says it’s alright-”

“Drake. _Out_.”

She gave the door a final smack and climbed into the backrow herself. Sam grumbled and followed her into the back. Sully laughingly thanked Nadine and sat down in the passenger seat. Chloe winked at her through the rear view mirror and drove off.

They followed the tracker for four hours before arriving at their final destination. Chloe parked the car far from where the treasure supposedly was; as beautiful as the car was, it did not exactly blend in with its surroundings. Sam tapped her shoulder with binoculars, which she took and held up to her eyes. It was a mansion; it was crumbling and overgrown and in need of repair, but it was a mansion still. Nero’s trucks stood outside, their doors flung wide open to allow his men to carry the treasure-laden crates into the house.

Chloe handed the binoculars back to Sam.

“Any sight of them?” Nadine asked.

“They must be on one of the trucks.”

“Why do you even think that this Nero-guy brought her family here?” Sully asked. “Couldn’t he have left them on the ship? Or even in South Africa?”

“No, we scoured the ship after Nero’s men got off,” Sam replied. He passed the binoculars to Nadine. “They weren’t on there.”

“So what makes you so sure they’ll be here?”

“He needs to keep them close if he wants to hurt them,” Nadine said. “And he told me he would.”

“We better get going then,” Chloe shut the engine off and handed the keys to Sully. “Thanks for letting me drive. I hope we see each other again soon.”

“Oh, hell, I’m not leaving,” he said. “No, I’ll wait for you right here.”

“Victor, you really don’t-”

“No, no, I want to,” Sully interrupted Nadine. “Just make sure you bring me back something shiny.”

Sam clapped him on the shoulder. “Alright then. See you in a bit.”

They got out of the car and readied their weapons and gear. Victor lit another cigar and watched them, bemused. It had been a while since he had last been part of something this exciting, not that he was complaining. He welcomed the break.

“Good luck, gimme a ring if you need anything,” he called after them. Chloe blew a kiss in response.

They scaled the rickety iron fence to gain access to the grounds. The gardens had not been tended to in years, decades possibly, and the chest-high grass allowed them to get close to the trucks without being seen. Most of Nero’s men were inside; a few guarded the entrance to the mansion and only a handful had been left to keep an eye on the now empty trucks. It was noon and the sun beat down mercilessly. One of the men took off his green beret to mop his brow.

Someone had flung open the windows in one of the rooms of the mansion, in the vain hope that it might let a breeze through. Chloe peered inside through the yellowing grass. Nero walked into her field of vision, flanked by two men. He extended his hand to someone. The man who shook it seemed vaguely familiar; tall and broad and dark-haired.

“Ibarra,” she muttered. The history professor from the Natural History Museum. Was he the one who hired Nero?

She grabbed Nadine’s arm and pointed up at the men. Nadine blinked.

“It’s him.”

“I know.”

“It’s who?” Sam whispered.

“Nero’s client. We’ve seen him before, he was one of the men presenting the artefact at the gala in London,” Chloe answered.

“Huh. Plot twist.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Nadine said. “Come on, we need to find my family before they finish the deal.”

They made their way to the edge of the gardens to get as close as possible to the vehicles without being spotted. Nadine crouched down low and parted the grass slightly to get a better view. There were four trucks; one of them had its doors cracked open and she could hear voices from within. They were speaking in Afrikaans.

She pointed out the truck in question to Sam and Chloe. There were two men with machine guns on either side of the doors, and one at the front in the driver’s seat, dangling his legs out. Sam came in closer.

“Chloe, take left. Nadine, take right. I’ll go for the one at-”

He didn’t even get to finish his sentence before Nadine burst out of the grass, slammed the butt of her pistol into the face of the man on the right and kicked the other in the groin. He doubled over instinctively and she grabbed his head to knee him in the face, knocking him out. He slumped to the ground. She disappeared behind the doors.

“ _What_ -?!”

“Don’t take it personally. She does that to me too.” Chloe patted Sam on the shoulder comfortingly. “Go take out the driver. I’ll help her with her family.”

They parted ways and Chloe followed Nadine in through the truck doors. She found her kneeling in front of a woman in a dressing gown, cutting through the rope tying her ankles together. Nadine spoke to her softly in Afrikaans. Across from her was her brother, still tied to his fold-out chair. He was skinnier than she thought, and his last picture showed him with hair, whereas now his head was shaved. He had the same mole as Nadine above his lip. Chloe and he made eye contact; she whipped out a penknife.

“Isaac, I presume?” she said. She reached over him and cut his wrists free.

“Chloe, is it?” Isaac rubbed his wrists. “Nice to meet you.”

“Pleasure is all mine.” She sliced through the rope around his feet and pulled him up.

Chloe turned around to see Nadine in a tight embrace with her mother, silently swaying. She reached out to wipe a tear from her cheek and straightened back up. Isaac shoved past Chloe to pull his sister into a hug.

Chloe held her hand out to Nadine’s mother. “Chloe Frazer, pleased-”

The woman bypassed her hand and threw her arms around Chloe’s neck to squeeze her tightly.

“Oh, friendlier than I-”

“Thank you,” she whispered. “Thank you so much, Chloe.”

She smelled like lavender. Not real lavender, the moth ball kind, and it was a comforting scent. Chloe hugged her back tentatively, unsure. “Of course.”

Nadine let go of her brother and looked him up and down. His face bore a healing bruise and one of his front teeth was cracked, but other than that he seemed fine. So Nero hadn’t had a chance to punish them yet. She smacked him upside the head.

“Ow! What was that for?!” he whined, rubbing the spot she’d hit.

“That was for letting yourself be taken prisoner by some shitty amateurs,” she said. “I thought I taught you better.”

“They came at night, how was I-” Nadine cut him off with another smack.

“And that was for giving our address out to strangers on the internet.”

Isaac held one hand out towards Chloe, the other protecting his head against another attack. “What?! She’s your partner! She’s not a stranger-”

“Don’t make me hit you again-”

“Alright, okay, partner. Ease up,” Chloe said, pushing down the arm Nadine had raised against her brother. “How about we get them out of here first? You can berate him all you like once they’re safe.”

Nadine exhaled heavily. She handed her brother a gun and readied her own. Sam stood outside the truck, poised and ready. Nobody had noticed them so far. The truck moved and out came a woman who looked exactly like Nadine, except shorter and stouter and evidently sleep-deprived. She was followed by a lanky man in his twenties, whose grip on the gun was awkward and ungainly. Sam hoped he didn’t fire it by mistake.

Nadine hopped onto the ground after them, checking her surroundings.

“Single file, follow me through the grass.”

Nadine didn’t need an army to act like a commander.

Chloe brought up the rear, periodically checking her back to see if anyone had noticed the empty truck or the moving grass. Nothing had happened. Nero and Ibarra were still stood in front of the open window, negotiating. Behind them, men moved one crate after the other across the room. All that gold… it had to be worth millions, _hundreds_ of millions.

Sam boosted Nadine’s mother over the fence, followed by her brother. They crossed the road hurriedly and made for the tree behind which Sully had parked the car. He straightened up in his seat and turned the keys in the ignition.

“Get in, get in, get in,” Nadine ripped the car door open and ordered her family inside. “Victor, this is my mother Amahle and my brother Isaac. Ma, Isaac, this is Victor Sullivan.”

“Pleasure to meet ya,” he said and shook their hands. They stared back at him blankly, overwhelmed. “Did you make it out okay?”

“Nobody saw a thing,” Sam panted, recovering from his sprint.

“Alright, well then get in,” Sully said, patting the leather upholstery. “Let’s leave while we’re ahead.”

Neither Nadine, Sam, nor Chloe moved. They exchanged looks and Chloe walked over to Sam to rest her elbow on his shoulder. She batted her eyes at Nadine. 

“What do you say, china? Do you want to go shoot the bastard and grab some trinkets?”

Nadine smiled and sank her gaze to the ground.

“You know, that is why we got together, after all,” Chloe continued. “Let’s go finish the original mission. It would be a real shame to leave this close to the prize. Don’t you agree, Sam?”

“Awful shame,” he nodded.

Nadine pulled the final bundle of notes out of her pocket and handed them to Sully. “It won’t be enough, but it’s all I have right now. I’ll give you whatever I can get out of that mansion. Please just get them back to Cape Town.”

Sully took the money and let it disappear down his shirt pocket. “I’ll make sure they get back safe.”

“Thank you, Victor.”

She turned to leave but Isaac caught her hand. Nadine had avoided looking at her family out of fear they would disapprove and try to stop her.

“Nadine-”

“Isaac, don’t make me stay-”

“Make you stay?” he repeated, confused. “No, I wanted to give you this.” He returned the gun, knowing full well that he could never use it on someone. He didn’t even know how to take the safety off. “Good luck. Don’t die.”

“I’ve managed so far,” she said.

“Shoot the guy in the dick for me.”

“Will do,” Chloe called out and Isaac smiled at her. Nadine turned around and gave her what was meant to be a disapproving look, but she was too amused.

“Right, well,” Nadine took a step back from the car. She wanted the conversation to end before it got too emotional. “I’ll go take care of that. You two make sure you make it back home safe, ja?”

Isaac nodded. His mother put her arm around him. Nadine slapped the car door and turned around, listening to the tires drive over the grass and dirt. Chloe linked her arms through Nadine and Sam’s and squeezed them tightly.

“Ah, look at us. The three amigos reunited-”

“Don’t _ever_ call us the three amigos again,” Nadine cautioned.

“I’m with Nadine on this one,” Sam chimed in.

“Wow, not even four seconds in and you’ve already turned on me…”


	17. We're Even

* * *

“I must say, this is far more than I ever dared to expect.” Dr Gabriel Ibarra pulled a handkerchief from his pocket to wipe the sweat off his forehead. The sun reflected on the gold; it made the room seem hotter than it was. “It would not surprise me if that changed the price of your services.”

Nero smiled. He sat on two crates stacked on top of each other, seizing up the man in front of him. This was the first time they had met face to face, despite being in constant contact for weeks. Nero imagined Ibarra taller, and not quite so nervous and sweaty. He didn’t suit his low, booming voice.

“Our original agreement suits me just fine, thank you,” he replied. Nero crossed his arms. “Although I would like to know why you want this treasure so bad. You don’t strike me as the type who has it out for infinite riches.”

The professor walked to one of the open crates and allowed his hands to stroke the surface of one of the statues. “No,” he said. “This could all be made out of wood or paper, I’d want it all the same.” He lifted the figurine out, felt the unexpected weight of it in his hands. “This is history, _our_ history – the history of my people. I knew I had to get to it before some foreigner could claim it for themselves.”

“How very noble of you.”

“Not noble, _necessary_ ,” Ibarra said solemnly. “Montezuma’s headdress lies in a museum in Vienna. The double-headed serpent belongs to the British Museum. Italy has the Florentine Codex. The feather shield is, again, in Vienna.” He paused and gently lay the statue back onto the cotton padding inside the crate. “We have been able to recover much of our stolen past, but not quite everything yet. London wanted to keep the artefact, and they threw so much money at us that there was nothing I could do to stop them. That is, until I found out about you.”

Nero ran his finger around the collar of his turtleneck; the heat was getting to him too. He wanted this over and done with. “Well, it’s not every day I get to serve such a just cause. In this line of work, I rarely ever do.” He jumped off the crate. “You have the money?”

Ibarra pointed to two black attaché cases in the far corner of the room. Nero sent one of his men to check them.

“This is quite a lot of recovered history,” he said, gesturing to the crates around them. “You’ll need some help getting this into a museum.”

“My help will be here in an hour,” Ibarra answered. “I came alone, like you requested.”

Nero grinned. His hand slipped into his back pocket and he pulled out a gun.

“You shouldn’t have.”

Chloe felt Nadine jump to her feet next to her. They were crouched just outside, below the window, the grass tickling their noses. They listened to the conversation unfold before them, waiting for Nero to finish hashing out the deal before ambushing him. Nadine shooting the gun out of his hand was not part of the plan, but they had also not expected him to turn on Ibarra.

The gun exploded out of Nero’s grip, but the shot still fired, hitting the professor in the knee. Ibarra sank to the ground; Nero turned his head to the window to stare down Nadine’s smoking barrel. The dozen of his men in the room readied their guns and pointed them at her in response.

“Nadine,” he said. “What an unwelcome surprise. I thought I had made my orders to you very clear.”

“I don’t take orders,” she replied. “I give them. _Sam, up_!”

Nadine dropped to the ground, hearing a shot whizz over her head. To her right, Sam sprang to his feet and fired two consecutive shots before crouching down again. Chloe followed suit and killed another guard before anyone even had the time to aim their guns at her.

They pressed their backs against the wall and listened to the bullets fly above them.

“I took out two!” Sam yelled over the noise.

“I got one!” Chloe replied. “But there’s still way too many left! And all this noise is going to attract more!”

They both looked to Nadine for guidance.

“Stay low, stick to the wall,” she said as quietly as possible. “We’ll burst in through the other window.”

They crawled along the wall, out of the line of sight of all those inside. Nadine rounded the corner of the house. She stood up on one side of the window, leaving Sam and Chloe on the other. They reloaded their guns.

“Ready?”

Chloe smiled. “Here goes everything.”

They shot through the glass. Two of Nero’s men immediately fell to the ground, and they managed to take out another three before anyone knew where to direct their gunfire. Chloe jumped into the room through the shattered window and took cover behind some of the crates. Sam and Nadine followed her example.

Nero’s men were dropping like flies, but it barely made a difference. They vastly outnumbered them. By the time all those originally in the room lay dead or dying, twenty more had burst in through the double doors. It was futile; they couldn’t outgun them all. They didn’t have to, though. They only had to gun down the one.

Sam slowly made his way towards Nero. He cowered in the far corner of the room, shouting for backup, ordering his men to be careful with the treasure. A shot had grazed his face and there were droplets of blood in his moustache. Sam lifted the cover off a crate and used it as a shield to gain ground. Chloe covered him as best she could. Nadine fired out the busted windows at the rapidly approaching reinforcements. They had five minutes – at most – before they were hopelessly outnumbered and surrounded.

Sam’s makeshift shield disintegrated. Nero had realised his plan and kept his gun trained solely at him, trying to keep him at bay until more men arrived. Sam lobbed the remaining wooden planks at Nero’s face, knocking him backwards, before leaping into air and landing directly on top of the man. Nero lost his gun, but Sam had a firm grip on his. He quickly got to his feet and dragged Nero up with him, the weapon to his temple.

“STOP! STOP OR I’LL SHOOT!”

Everyone paused.

Sam walked to the centre of the room, holding Nero in front of him as a shield. All eyes were on him.

“Guns down or he’s dead,” he said.

“Do as he fucking says!” Nero barked. His men slowly dropped their weapons.

“That’s better,” Sam nodded. “Now, we’re going to have a civilized conversation about what’s going to happen next.”

Nadine and Chloe emerged from behind their crates. Chloe kept her gun aimed at Nero’s men, motioning them to put their hands up. The noise made Nadine’s ears ring. She kept her weapon up and aiming at the men charging from outside, but they were no longer shooting at them. They could see what was happening indoors and had stopped in their tracks. They were all watching, waiting, trying to make out the deal Sam was proposing.

All except for one. Nadine blinked. Was that…?

“SAM, SNIPER!”

He turned, but it was too late. The shot had already rung out. Nadine dove straight for him, ramming her shoulder into his side to get Sam out of the line of fire. It worked. She managed to get push him out of the trajectory of the bullet in time, only to enter it herself.

The bullet struck her in the back. Nadine let out a groan before hitting the ground face-first and going limp. The impact had made Sam lose his grip on Nero, who kicked him in the groin and tried to scramble off. He didn’t make it far. Chloe shot him through the neck.

For a brief moment, it was silent. Absolutely silent. For Chloe it felt as though time had stopped.

It hadn’t though, and Sam was the first to move and break the spell. He grabbed the nearest man before anyone could recover from the confusion and ready their weapons again. He sought a spot far from the windows and held the gun to the man’s head. Evidently he had grabbed someone of importance; they did not fire. The only sound in the room was that of Chloe trying to wake Nadine.

Sam fished the GPS tracking device out of his pocket.

“Do you know what this is?!” he hissed and held up the black rectangular screen. “This is a fucking detonator. We’ve rigged the entire place with explosives. Tell your men to retreat or I’ll blow us all up.”

Nobody moved.

“There are two hundred pieces of C4 placed across this entire mansion,” Sam continued. He heard the man whimper. “Now order everyone to retreat or you’ll end up like your boss here.” He kicked Nero’s dead body.

That seemed to have the desired effect; one of the few remaining men reached for his walkie-talkie.

“All units. Retreat.”

“Fast,” Sam said.

“Fast,” the man added.

“Out of the goodness of my heart, I’ll let you take the money. If you take the money and leave, nobody else has to die,” Sam hissed. He could taste blood, but could not tell if it was his own. It was quiet. “I take it we have a deal then?” He pushed the man he had been holding hostage in the direction of the attaché cases.

Sam heard someone cock their gun. He placed his finger on the GPS tracker. “If someone fires a single shot, I’m taking all of you down with me.”

The man grabbed the cases and bounded for the door, obviously mistrustful of Sam. The rest of Nero’s men followed suit slowly, never turning their backs on Sam. He walked after them to ensure their retreat was genuine, making sure to always keep the supposed trigger for the bombs visible. They yelled at each other, loaded their trucks, and drove off. He waited for them to disappear from sight. He knew that they would return, but at least it bought them some time.

Sam ran back into the room and stepped over Nero’s corpse. Chloe fretted over Nadine, trying to carry her on her own.

“‘ _It’s all muscle_ ’ my ass,” she muttered, straining. “Come on. Come on, Nadine.”

Sam dropped to his knees beside them.

“Wait, let me,” he said. “How is she?”

“We need to get her to a hospital fast,” Chloe answered. Her heart pounded, she could feel a migraine coming on. Now was not the time for all of this, she had to push through…

“Well then, let’s go.” Sam slipped a hand under Nadine’s head and one under her knees to lift her off the ground. Her back was slick with blood. “They left some cars outside; we’ll take one of them.”

“Okay,” Chloe collected their guns. Her hands shook so badly the car keys jangled when she held them. She buried them deep in her pockets to muffle the noise.

Nadine stirred in Sam’s arms; she groaned and opened her eyes. “Sam?”

“I’m here.”

Nadine did the closest thing she could to a smile.

“We’re even now, ja?” she mumbled. It hurt to breathe.

Sam shook his head. “You never owed me anything to begin with, you idiot.”

“Well, in that case…” she coughed. “You owe me now.”

He carried her out of the room. It made Chloe even more anxious to see Nadine so limp and lifeless in Sam’s arms. She walked behind them, unsure. Is this what Nadine felt like after she had been hurt in London? Chloe tripped over something – an arm or a gun or a broken artefact – and caught herself on the doorframe.

No. No way. Chloe could not imagine Nadine scared. She tried her best to emulate.

Someone cleared their throat behind her and Chloe spun around, pointing her gun right at Ibarra. He tried to stand up, clutching his knee.

“Please- please. I need help too.”

She watched Sam stagger down the hallway, struggling to carry Nadine. They left a trail of blood behind them. How was she losing blood this quickly?!

“Please,” Ibarra begged.

The man's face was white as a sheet; if they left him here, he'd bleed to death. Or worse, Nero's men might get to him first. But if Chloe did not have the strength to carry Nadine, then she certainly could not support this man twice her weight. She didn't have the time either. They had to _go._

Chloe walked up to the professor and pushed him back onto the floor by his shoulders. She tore the sleeve off his shirt and tied it above his leg to stem the blood flow, cursing her trembling hands. She tossed him her gun and phone and started to back away apologetically, searching for Sam and Nadine. Ibarra watched her with pitiful brown eyes. 

"I’m sorry- I can’t. I have…" She could feel herself begin to hyperventilate. “She needs me.”

A car honked in the distance and Chloe ran off.


	18. Professional Courtesy

* * *

The blood on her hands had dried. Some of it flaked off and slowly drifted toward the green linoleum floor, but most of it clung to her skin. Chloe feared she might never get it off. She bounced her leg incessantly; she had been bouncing it for the past two hours and it was starting to cramp, but she couldn’t stop. It was either this or pacing about the room, and Sam had already laid claim to the latter. There wasn’t enough space in the room for the both of them to do it. Chloe bounced her leg harder.

“Just don’t tell her family anything,” Sam said. He was on the phone to Sully. “We’ll let them know what happened once they’re safe and at home.”

The response was garbled.

“I don’t know – nobody is telling us anything.” He ran his hand through his hair. His hands used to be soaked in blood too, worse than Chloe’s, but Sam had scrubbed it off first chance he got. “She should be out of surgery soon.”

Chloe closed her eyes. The events of the past few hours flashed before her like fragments of a vivid nightmare. She remembered the panicked tone in Sam’s voice as he tried to keep Nadine awake on the ride to the hospital, the sharp smell of antiseptic that hit her when they first burst through the front doors. A swarm of nurses tore Nadine from them and loaded her onto a stretcher, asking questions in Spanish that Chloe could not answer. Sam struggled to respond to all of them at once. It was too much, too loud, and Chloe collapsed.

When she came to, they were in this room, and she had not left it since. This was where they would bring Nadine once she came out of surgery.

“Thank you, Victor,” Sam said. “I’ll – yeah. I’ll keep you posted. Speak soon.”

He hung up and sighed heavily. His eyes drifted across the room before settling on Chloe, who was staring at her trembling hands. Sam went over to the sink and wet some paper towels. He knelt down in front of her and began to wipe the blood off her hands; Chloe tried to pull back but Sam gripped her hands firmly.

“They won’t let you near her if you’re this dirty, especially if she’s fresh out of surgery.” Sam scrubbed her palms. “You need to at least look like you’re keeping it together.”

The paper towels were soaked and there was still so much blood left on her. “Come on,” Sam tugged at her gently to get her out of the chair and led Chloe to the sink. He tied her hair back while Chloe washed her hands and dabbed at the flecks of blood on her neck.

Chloe caught his gaze through the mirror.

“Thank you.” She had never meant those words more.

Sam huffed. “Thank me once this is all over.”

“No, I’m thanking you now,” Chloe insisted. “No matter-”

She broke off. Sam looked at her questioningly. “No matter?”

Chloe turned around, just in time to see the door to the room swing open and a nurse come in, pulling a bed through the door behind her. On it lay Nadine, with tubes coming out of her arms and nose, deathly pale. But her chest rose steadily, visibly, and when the nurse spoke with Sam, she smiled a little; she even saw Sam breathe a sigh of relief. Chloe watched the other nurses wheel the bed in and hook Nadine up to machines and bags of fluid.

Sam was too engrossed in conversation to respond to her questioning stare, so Chloe dragged her chair across the floor and sat down next to Nadine’s head. She took her hand; it was cold, but Chloe lifted it up to her lips to breathe on it and restore some warmth. The nurse spoke to Sam a little longer before leaving the room. Chloe gazed up at him expectantly.

“Full recovery.”

His lips broke into the widest grin Chloe had ever seen. She shot up from the chair and rushed to embrace him. Her arms squeezed him so tightly that Sam asked her to ease up, but Chloe only hugged him harder.

“Really?!”

“Yeah,” Sam squirmed, trying to pry her loose. Chloe relented a little. “She’ll need to stay here for a few days and then take it easy for a couple of months, but the nurse said that they patched her lungs up nicely.”

“Oh Jesus.” The relief that rushed through her felt better than the morphine she was given back in France. “Jesus… _fuck_. Christ almighty. Holy goddamn mother of-”

“Don’t go all religious on me now,” Sam said. He stroked her hair. “The nuns would wash your mouth out with soap if they heard that.”

“She’s going to be fine?”

“She’s going to be – hey, woah.” Sam felt Chloe sway and caught her arm. “Here, sit.”

He guided Chloe back to her chair. She sank into it, lightheaded and overwhelmed and so terribly, awfully happy. Chloe began to laugh.

Sam placed his hands on his hips and shook his head. He needed a cigarette. And a nap. A change of clothes would be nice too.

“How about I get us some coffee?” he asked and upon noticing Chloe’s still shaking hands added, “Maybe decaf for you. Just a little something to celebrate.”

Chloe nodded.

“I’ll be right back then.” Sam turned on his heel and left the room.

Chloe pulled her chair in closer. She placed her head on the mattress and closed her eyes; she could still smell her, despite all the alcohol and soap and strange chemicals. It brought her back to the boat and the two of them alone in that room, for however long it had been. Chloe didn’t think she could ever smell the ocean again without having it make her think of Nadine. It was a lovely thought.

She felt a hand touch her hair and travel down until it rested on her cheek. Chloe opened her eyes and blinked up at Nadine.

“Frazer.”

Chloe smiled, “Ross.”

Nadine sighed and attempted to move, but her body wasn’t quite awake yet. She groaned. “How dead am I?”

Chloe sat up but made sure to keep Nadine’s hand pressed to her face. “Not dead at all.”

“Good,” Nadine smiled. “That wouldn’t have been part of our deal.”

Chloe laughed and it brought tears to her eyes. She tried to wipe them away before Nadine could see them – after all, it was a bit ridiculous to cry now, when everything was going to be alright – but Nadine stopped her. She wiped them away herself.

Chloe leaned in to kiss her gently. Her lips were warm and soft and she felt alive.

Nadine grinned into the kiss. “Well that feels familiar.”

“What do you mean?”

“You kissed me back in France, when you were on all those drugs,” Nadine said. “Seems like we’re taking turns being injured here.”

“I did?” Chloe asked. “I thought I dreamt that.” She’d had all manner of weird, nonsensical dreams while she was in hospital, and kissing Nadine had been a recurring dream since India.

“No, you kissed me. And I let you.”

Chloe placed her elbow on the bed and rested her face on it. Her free hand brushed Nadine’s hair behind her ear. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

Nadine shook her head. “I was scared it wasn’t real.”

“You’re such a romantic.”

“I’m not,” Nadine protested. “It’s like I told you, I prefer my partners conscious. No romance in that.”

“Whatever you say, love.”

The door opened and Sam walked in with two paper cups. Chloe dabbed at her eyes rapidly and tried to pull herself together. He avoided looking at her out of courtesy and placed the coffee on the bedside table before kneeling down next to the bed.

“Hey there,” he said. “How are you feeling?”

“Like I’ve just been shot.”

“That checks out,” Sam nodded. It made him a little uncomfortable to see Nadine so weak and pale, but he was mostly just glad to finally have her back.

She raised her hand to touch his shoulder. “Thank you, Sam.”

“Don’t mention it,” he said. “I’m getting good at this whole saving your guys’ lives thing. You’re making sure I’m getting plenty of practice.”

“Ugh, remind me never to thank you again,” Nadine moaned and tried to pull her hand back from Sam’s shoulder, but he caught her fingers and squeezed them. Chloe reached across the bed for his other hand and the three of them smiled at each other, grateful.

“Hey, but just so we’re clear, this doesn’t mean anything,” Sam said as they disentangled from each other, slightly embarrassed by the sudden closeness. “It’s just professional courtesy.”

*

Chloe had trouble sleeping. It wasn’t just the fact that she had no actual bed to lie in, but hospitals unsettled her deeply ever since her extended stay in France. They made her feel vulnerable and weak. She sat on the ground, leaning against the door so that she could look out the window at the full moon. Sam had fallen asleep on the couch in the visitation area, so it was only her and Nadine. Her breathing was strong and rhythmic, louder than the humming of the machines she was plugged into.

Chloe got up, pulled the blankets higher around Nadine’s body, and kissed her forehead. She opened the window and leaned out; all those aggressive smells, not to mention the trauma of the past few hours, had given her a raging headache and the fresh air helped a little. The pills were in her pocket, but Chloe didn’t dare take them. No way could she afford to zone out now.

A car pulled into the parking lot. It was the only thing moving this late in the night and Chloe watched it attentively. Four men got out. She squinted. Nadine’s room was all the way on the fourth floor, but those men seemed armed. Chloe stiffened and pulled back from the window a little. The men walked up to one of the parked cars and shone a flashlight on it. It was the car Chloe had driven them to the hospital in, a car left behind by Nero’s men. One of the men turned around and the beam of the flashlight illuminated the green beret worn by the man behind him.

Chloe stumbled back, heart racing. She burst out of the room and into the empty hallway, on the search for Sam. She found him sprawled out on a brown settee, snoring softly. Chloe gripped his leg and shook it.

“Sam. Sam,” Chloe shook him harder, trying to stem the panic rising within her. “Sam. Wake up.”

He opened his eyes and looked around, confused. “What? What’s going on?”

“Nero’s men are here,” she said. “They’ve found the car we took. Okay? We need to leave.”

“Huh?”

Chloe sighed and pulled Sam upright. “We need to _go_.”

She dragged the groggy Sam back into Nadine’s room, where she set about unhooking her various IV solution bags. Sam tried to force his mind to clear.

“Pass me the wheelchair.”

“It can’t be safe for us to move her,” Sam said.

“Okay, let me settle this once and for all.” Chloe reached for the wheelchair herself. “This line of work is not safe – _ever_. We should all know that by now. I’m getting really tired of all these safety questions.”

Sam scratched his head. He was still fighting to keep his eyelids open.

“Anyways, it’s safer to move her than it is to leave her here with armed mercenaries at the door,” Chloe said. “Now come on, help me get her out of bed.”

Chloe grabbed Nadine under the arms and Sam took her legs. She was out cold and did not stir the entire time. They positioned her in the wheelchair, placed the bags of fluids she was hooked up to in her lap, and wrapped her in a blanket. Chloe pulled Sam’s gun out of its holster to take for herself, leaving Sam to push the chair down the hall. Chloe walked up front, gun up and ready; the few medical staff on duty hid behind desks and doors.

They made it into the elevator and Chloe pressed the button for the garage. Sam tapped his foot as the lift went down; they could hear voices and gunshots coming from behind the doors.

“Ever driven an ambulance before?” Sam asked.

“No, but I’ll try anything once.”

The garage was dark and neither of them could locate the light switch. Their footsteps echoed off the concrete walls as they wandered about, trying to find an ambulance. Chloe felt cold. They hadn’t much time.

“There!” Sam whispered. He pointed at a dim, rectangular shape in the distance. The reflective stripes along the vehicle caught what little light there was. “That looks like-”

He was caught off by a gunshot. Chloe whirled around and fired at the source of the sound; she heard a groan and something slumped to the ground.

“Go! Go!” Chloe yelled. “I’ll hold them off.”

Sam broke into a sprint and rolled Nadine towards the ambulance. He threw the doors open, lifted Nadine out of the chair and lay her onto the stretcher inside the car. He closed the doors and crawled into the driver’s cabin, and set about hotwiring the ambulance.

Chloe darted in between cars, aware that her gun was on its last round. There were four, possibly five – it was hard to tell in the darkness – chasing after her. Chloe knelt on the ground, panting hard, trying to regain her bearings; she had no clue where the ambulance was, or the exit, or anything really. Something flashed across the side view mirror in front of her. She wrested a windshield wiper off one of the cars and jammed it into the eye of one of Nero’s men. He screamed and Chloe fired into his stomach. It was too late, though. The others had been alerted of her whereabouts. She could hear them running towards her, but no matter where she turned, it was too dark to see anything. A shot narrowly missed her head and Chloe’s sweaty palms struggled to get a good grip on her gun.

Suddenly the darkness was interrupted by flashing white and blue lights, accompanied by an ear-splitting siren. It allowed Chloe to see one of her approaching assailants and fire into his head. Sam floored the gas pedal and the ambulance shot out of its parking spot; he drove straight towards one of the men sprinting towards where Chloe was crouched and flattened him against a car. He reached across and opened the passenger door.

“Get in!”

Chloe did not need to be told twice. She jumped in beside him and slammed the door shut just in time for it to stop an approaching bullet.

“DRIVE!”

“WHERE?!”

“FUCKING ANYWHERE!”

The windscreen cracked. Sam wrested the steering wheel around and made for the exit ramp, brushing past parked cars hard enough to make the metal spark. The ambulance broke through the rising arm barrier and skid onto the street. Chloe rolled her window down and leaned out of it to fire at the few men that had decided to chase after them on foot.

The streets of Guadalajara were practically deserted this late and the few cars that were still around quickly swerved out of the way of the wailing ambulance. Sam managed to put a lot of distance between them and Nero’s men fairly quickly, and soon the high-rise buildings gave way to smaller cottages, until they were surrounded by fields.

Chloe flipped a switch above them and the siren stopped abruptly.

“Thank God, that was doing my head in,” she said, massaging her temples. “I think we lost them.”

Sam nodded, fully concentrated on the road ahead.

Chloe turned around in her seat to check on Nadine in the back. She was still in the stretcher, but one of her arms was dangling off the bed and an IV solution bag had fallen onto the floor. Chloe unfastened her seatbelt and crawled into the back; she picked up the bag and gently repositioned Nadine’s hand. Her chest rose evenly and the sight of Nadine’s steady breathing eased the tension in Chloe’s shoulders a little. She sat down on the stretcher, moved Nadine’s legs onto her lap and stared out the small oval window in front of her.

The sky was starting to lighten beyond the hills.

“Quite the landscape, huh?” Sam said.

“Yeah…” Chloe huffed. “We’ll have to ditch this ambulance before the sun comes up.”

“And then what?”

“And then…” She stopped. Chloe pushed Nadine’s legs off her and pressed her face against the window. “Wait. Stop. Stop the car.”

Sam pulled the brake. Chloe tapped the window and he looked to his left in time to see an airplane take off in the distance.

“An airport,” Sam muttered.

“Looks too small to be commercial.”

“Probably just cargo then.” Sam turned around to face Chloe. “So is that our next stop?” 

Chloe nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, we can fly back to Phoenix. That should be far enough from Nero’s men.”

Sam reached for the handbrake to release it but stopped mid-air. “Woah, what? Phoenix?! You want to go back to Nate’s?”

“Do you have a better idea?”

“Uh, yeah?” Sam stared at her incredulously. “How about something that doesn’t involve dragging my brother and his wife and their baby into this mess?”

“Please, I’m all ears!” Chloe walked away from the window and closer to Sam. “Because if we don’t get her somewhere safe and stable soon, she’s going to die on us. And I am _not_ going to let that happen.

“We can find somewhere that isn’t Nate’s. We – we could go to Victor’s, he-”

“Sully _lives_ in Guadalajara, Sam!” Chloe snapped. “We drive back into that city, we’re dead. I understand that it’s risky and that Nate has a baby now-”

“Risky?!” Sam glowered. “Climbing a mountain with you after you’d been shot in the head, _that_ was risky. _This_ – bringing an ex-mercenary army leader who had been hired to kill Nate and me barely a year ago, who is the target of yet another mercenary army – this is downright destructive.”

Chloe swallowed hard and crossed her arms. “You don’t think Nadine is worth it.”

Sam glared right back at her, unblinking. “Do I that Nadine Ross is worth putting my family’s life at risk for? No. Why should I?”

“She took a bullet for you, man! She saved your life! She saved my life, she-”

“She used us!” Sam yelled. “The only reason she came back to us in the first place is so that she might steal the treasure.” He took a deep breath. “I know I owe Nadine a lot, but I do not owe her this much.”

Chloe reached behind her and pulled out her gun.

“Then get out of the car.”

Sam shook his head. “You wouldn’t-”

“Don’t test me. My hands are not the steadiest,” Chloe said. She aimed the gun at his shoulder, somewhere non-lethal. She couldn’t get herself to point it anywhere else on him. “I will not let her die. I don’t let anyone die.”

“I can’t let you put Cassie in danger,” Sam pleaded softly. “She’s my family, I have to protect her.”

“Without me, there wouldn’t be a Cassie for you to protect,” she said. “Without me, there would be no Nate, no Elena, no you. I saved you from Asav, I helped Elena out of Shambhala, I can’t even count the number of times I’ve rescued Nate’s ass.” Chloe felt a tear run down her cheek, but this time she did not wipe it away. “So maybe you’re right. Maybe you don’t owe this to Nadine. But you owe it to me. You all do.”

Sam clenched his jaw hard enough to make his teeth hurt. He felt his head move up and down slowly. “Alright. Now stop pointing that thing at me, you’re not fooling anyone.”

Chloe let out the breath she’d been holding and tucked the gun away. Sam grabbed her arm suddenly and pulled her in closer.

“But if anything happens to them-”

“It won’t.”

“But if something does-”

Chloe tore free of his grip. “I’m telling you. I’ll make sure nothing does. Trust me.” She rubbed her wrist; Sam’s fingers had left an imprint. “You do trust me, don’t you?”

Sam sighed. He reached for the handbrake and set the ambulance in motion.

“It would be easier if I didn’t.”

Chloe pushed the hair from her face. “Easy is boring,” she reminded herself.


	19. The Rubber Duck

* * *

Nadine woke up in a sweat. She lay on her stomach, the pillow glued to the left side of her face, and when she pushed herself up, her back felt like it was being struck by lightning. Nadine had a hard time stifling her groan. Her chest, her lungs, her spine, it all burned. She couldn’t remember why; she couldn’t remember where she was.

Nadine pushed through the pain and managed to sit up. The room was too dark for her to make out anything that might give her a clue as to where she was. Her mind felt slow and groggy, as though she had been drugged. The only thing she could think about was that she was hurt and in danger. She had to leave, she had to get somewhere safe, somewhere she knew. There was a tiny strip of light on the other side of the room illuminating a small patch on the ground. Nadine forced herself to stand up and stagger towards it; her hands travelled along the wall until she found a door handle and she pushed it down. The door creaked open and Nadine stumbled out into the hallway.

The walls were lined with pictures, but her vision was too blurry to make out the faces. Nadine continued down the hall until she found herself in a living room with an open kitchen. She almost tripped over something on the floor, a toy car. The more she saw, the less sense everything made. Where on earth was she?!

The front door was locked. Nadine slid the chain back, but the door would still not budge. She needed a key; it had to be somewhere close by. Her shirt clung to her chest and when Nadine tried to unstick it from her, her hands came back red. She left bloody fingerprints on the kitchen island as she searched for the keys to the door. She reached for a drawer and opened it so forcefully that it came out of the counter and fell to the floor, spilling cutlery everywhere with a loud metallic bang.

Something moved down the hall.

Nadine stooped down and grabbed the knife by her foot. She crouched behind the island and listened to the approaching footsteps.

“Sam?” She knew that voice. Where did she know it from? “Chloe?”

Nadine shifted to look around the corner. Her eyes met his.

“Nadine?”

She struggled back onto her feet, trying to suppress a yelp. Nathan Drake walked toward her and Nadine held the knife out to keep him at bay; he stopped in his tracks.

“Woah, what-”

“Don’t come any closer,” Nadine cautioned. “Stay where you are.”

Nate raised his arms. “Okay, okay. Now put the knife down.”

“Where am I?” she asked, feeling the blood drip down her chest harder. “What did you do to me?”

“You’re in my house. In Phoenix.” His eyes narrowed. “You were shot, but not by me. Put the knife down, I can help you. I’m on your side.”

“I need the keys. Where are your keys?”

“Nadine, you’re bleeding. Let me-”

Nadine leapt forward with the last of her strength and grabbed Nate’s shoulder, pressing the knife into his neck. “You better let me go right now, Drake. I’m serious.”

“I’m not keeping you here! You don’t know what you’re talking about-”

She held the blade even closer to his throat, cutting into his skin. Nate flinched and took a step backwards, but Nadine’s grip on him was unexpectedly strong.

“Keys. Now.”

The floorboards creaked and Nadine’s eyes darted up. Nate turned his head a little, enough to see that it was Sam in the hallway. He ran towards them.

“Hey, hey, what’s going on here?!”

Nadine spun Nate around, using him as a shield between herself and Sam, the knife still painfully close to his neck. Sam stopped dead.

“Nadine, what are you doing?” he asked. “You don’t want to hurt him.”

“She doesn’t know what’s going on, she’s confused-”

“Shut up,” she hissed. “What is going on?! Why am I here?”

“It must be the drugs; her dose decreased yesterday,” Sam said.

“Yeah, well, whatever it is, get her to stop trying to kill me!” Nate exclaimed.

“Drugs?! What drugs?!” Nadine walked backwards until she hit the wall. “What did you to me?!”

“You were shot. In Mexico,” Sam explained. He made himself smaller, lowered his voice, as though he were approaching a feral animal. “Don’t you remember? We were saving your family. You, me, and Chloe – the three of us.”

He approached her slowly; Nadine flattened herself against the wall even more even though it made her wound sting. Her mind was having a hard time processing his words.

“This man, Nero, he kidnapped your mother and brother. He wanted you to lead him to Montezuma’s treasure, so you did. But then we tracked him and we freed your family.” Sam looked deeply into her eyes. “We went back to get some of the treasure and kill the bastard, but you got shot. You pushed me out of the way. Remember?” He placed his hand on hers. “Come on, remember. We’re even now.”

The memory of it all hit Nadine so hard the knife fell out of her hand; Nate jumped away from her. She was about to fall too, but Sam dove forwards to catch her. He kept her on her feet.

“There we go. Is it all there now?” Sam asked her. She nodded and Sam looked over to Nate, who was wiping the blood from his neck. “You alright, little brother?”

“Yeah, sure,” Nate huffed. It had been a while since his body had experienced such an adrenaline rush; it made him a little nostalgic. “I’ll – uh – go wake Chloe to help with all this.”

“Good idea.” Sam pulled a chair out from underneath the dining table with his foot and helped Nadine to it. “Here, take it easy. This is the first time you’ve been up in a while.”

“How long have I been out for?”

“Four days.” Sam was about to wipe Nadine’s blood on his shirt, but thought better of it and went over to the sink instead. “Elena’s cousin is a doctor and she’s been giving you some pretty strong pain meds to get you over the hill.”

Nadine picked up the salt shaker in front of her; it was in the shape of a dog. Her bloody fingerprints showed up clearly on the white porcelain. “How did we get here? Last I remember I was in a hospital in Guadalajara.”

“Yeah, Nero’s men showed up, so we had to book it. Stole and ambulance to get out and everything. Chloe insisted I bring you here, to Nate’s. She was… very worried.” Sam dried his hands on the dishtowel and looked up. “Speak of the devil. Look who finally woke up.”

Chloe walked into the room with tousled hair, sweatpants, and an oversized shirt; her eyes had bags under them, but she was smiling. She sat down on the table in front of Nadine.

“That was no way to greet our hosts,” Chloe said. “But it’s good to have you back, china. I was starting to get worried.”

Nadine huffed. “I told you; dying isn’t part of our deal.”

Chloe took her face in her hands and leaned in for a kiss. Sam cleared his throat.

“Before you do any of… _that_ ,” he made a vague gesture in their direction. “You might want to get her cleaned up in the bathroom. She’s bleeding pretty bad, I think you might have popped a stitch.”

“I’m fine,” Nadine said gruffly, annoyed that Sam’s words had caused Chloe to pull back.

“Oh no, if I didn’t get to tell that lie, then you don’t either.” She hopped off the table and held her hand out to Nadine. “Come on, partner. Let me patch you up.”

Nadine took Chloe’s hand and let her pull her to her feet. She guided her to the bathroom by her elbow; the door next to it was open and in it stood Nate and Elena, carrying a sleeping Cassie. The knife had left a fine red line under his Adam’s apple.

Nadine stopped walking. She swallowed hard; her mouth felt dry.

“I’m sorry about that,” she said. “I didn’t know you were helping us. My mind was… I don’t know what I was thinking.”

Nate chuckled. “I get it; I’ve had some pretty bad trips myself. Just don’t let my razor in there give you any more ideas.”

“It won’t.” Her eyes wandered over to Elena. “Sorry about the bad first impression.”

“I’ve had worse,” Elena said, but Nadine couldn’t help but notice her grip on the baby tighten. “Now get into the bathroom before you bleed all over the floor.”

“And you two go back to bed,” Chloe added. “I’ll stay up and make sure she doesn’t go all homicidal again.”

Nate put his arm around Elena and nodded. “You do that. Goodnight.”

“Night night,” Chloe flirted and pushed Nadine into the bathroom. She closed the door behind her and locked it, sighing. “Well, that could have gone better.”

“Chloe, I-”

Chloe shook her head. “Don’t worry about it; I’ll sort it out later.” She leaned over to tie her hair back. “Let’s tend to you first.”

She grabbed the scissors off the side of the sink and cut Nadine’s shirt open in one sweeping motion. It was so wet, Chloe had to peel it off and toss it into the bin.

“How forward,” Nadine mumbled, her chest hidden only by bandages that would soon come off too.

“Now is not the time for false modesties,” Chloe replied. She pointed at the toilet. “Sit. I need to change your dressings and make sure you didn’t hurt yourself with that stunt you pulled.”

“I didn’t know you had that kind of medical training.”

“I don’t.” Chloe knelt down in front of Nadine and began to gently peel the bandages off. She gazed up and smirked. “Learned it just for you.”

Nadine felt the pressure around her chest lessen as Chloe unwrapped the dressing. She felt self-conscious when the last of the bandage came off and her bare, bloody breasts were in Chloe’s face. Chloe, however, did not bat and eyelid at the reveal and simply set about removing the gauze above Nadine’s right breast, where the bullet had exited her body.

“No stitches popped here,” she mumbled. “That’s good. Turn to the left so I can check the back.”

Nadine shifted on the toilet to allow Chloe to examine the entry wound below her right shoulder blade.

“You’re all good here too.” Chloe got to her feet and tossed the dark red gauze into the bin. “Lucky.”

She opened one of the bathroom cabinets and pulled out a first aid kit. She put on rubber gloves and stuck plasters over the bullet holes. Nadine shivered under her touch.

“Are you cold?” Chloe asked. Her face was close enough for Nadine to feel it on her neck and it only made her shake harder. “I could run you a bath.”

“A bath?” Nadine smiled. “Is that wise?”

Chloe pulled the gloves off and shrugged. “Those plasters are waterproof. You should be fine.” She leaned over and turned the bathtub tap on, letting the water run over her fingers until it was warm enough. “Plus, you haven’t washed in days.”

“I haven’t exactly been conscious enough to do that,” Nadine attempted to defend herself.

“Excuses,” Chloe chided. She reached for the shower gel and squeezed some into the water for it to form bubbles before wetting a washcloth and getting back down in front of Nadine. She gently wiped away the blood on her chest. “Can’t have you sitting in a bath of your own blood.”

“I can do that myself,” Nadine said without making a move to stop Chloe.

“I know.”

They listened to the water while Chloe continued to dab at Nadine, fully engrossed in her task. Nadine bit the inside of her cheek to maintain a straight face by the time she got to her nipples, but that was not enough to keep them from hardening. Chloe failed to not smile at that.

By the time the water from the washcloth no longer ran red, the tub was full. Chloe wrung out the cloth and turned off the tap. She pointed at the bath with the towering heap of white bubbles. “It’s all ready.”

Nadine stayed seated.

“What?” Chloe crossed her arms in front of her chest. “You know I’ve seen you naked before, right?”

Nadine shifted uncomfortably, fighting the urge to hide her chest too. “That was different. That was…” Words failed her. “You know.”

“Alright, alright, I’ll look away!” Chloe threw her hands up and marched into the opposite corner of the room to face the wall. “But I’m not letting you take a bath alone. I don’t want you to pass out and then drown on me.”

“If you must,” Nadine conceded. She stood up and stepped out of her shorts before slowly lowering herself into the steaming bath, never taking her eyes off Chloe. She didn’t want her to see her this vulnerable, this weak. Only when she was fully submerged in the water and covered by bubbles did she allow Chloe to turn around. “You can look now.”

“Thank you.” Chloe came towards her and sat down on the floor, next to Nadine’s feet. She picked up the rubber duck sitting on the ledge and dropped it into the bathtub, watching it float along the surface. “I had one just like that when I was a kid - except my mum used to give me baths in the sink. Our shower never worked and we didn’t have a tub, so I’d have to wash in the kitchen. The day I outgrew the sink was a sad day; baths haven't quite been the same since.”

Nadine smiled. “I don’t think I’ve had a bath since I was a baby. My father never let us take baths, said it wasted too much water.”

“You’re joking.”

She prodded the rubber duck with her toe and watched it spin around. “He never let us play cards either. There was a real gambling issue among his soldiers during the first few years of Shoreline, so he banned all cards outright. Couldn’t stand to see them at home either.”

Chloe placed her elbows on the edge of the bathtub and rested her face in her hands. “You sure you’re not just making this up to cover for the fact that you’re awful at playing cards?”

“I’m not,” Nadine responded. She flicked her foot up to splash Chloe in the face.

“So what happened to this kill-joy?” Chloe asked, flicking the droplets off her brow.

“Died in a car crash four years ago.” Nadine stared at Chloe blankly. “After my dad retired and left me the company, he liked to drive across the continent with my mother and explore different places. Well, on their tour of Zimbabwe he drove them right into an oncoming truck. Mum made it out fine, but he was killed instantly.”

“Jeez.”

Nadine sighed and let herself slip deeper into the tub. The heat of the water eased her pain; she felt much more clear-headed. “It’s actually quite an unspectacular death for a former leader of a mercenary army, if you think about it.”

Chloe chuckled and fished the rubber duck out of the tub to twirl between her fingers. “My mother’s death was quite unspectacular too. Cancer. She never stood a chance.”

“How old were you?”

Chloe looked up from the duck at Nadine, at her wide, dark, inquisitive eyes. They were beautiful; she could see the bubbles reflected in them. “Oh, young. Nineteen. I barely even knew how to feed myself.”

Nadine sat up and took Chloe’s hand. “I’m sorry. That mustn’t have been easy.”

Chloe smiled. She inspected Nadine’s wet, soapy fingers, wrapped around her own, and squeezed them tightly. “Don’t be. I wouldn’t be here with you if it weren’t for that.” She brushed a strand of hair behind her ear. “After she died, I packed everything up and sold the house and used the money to finance my first trip. You might have picked up on this already, but this line of work is kind of perfect for orphans.”

Nadine nodded. She leant back and let her hand slip out of Chloe’s, noticing that the latter’s arm had broken out in goose bumps. Her tongue darted across her lips.

“Are you cold?” Nadine asked.

Chloe looked down on her arm, as though she were only noticing the goose bumps now. She tried to rub them away. “A little, I guess.”

“Come in, then.”

Chloe blinked.

“There’s enough space for the two of us,” Nadine continued. “The water is really nice.”

Chloe laughed incredulously and looked around before locking eyes with Nadine again. Her mouth was open; she raised an eyebrow.

“Are you being serious?”

“Ja.”

“Because I will take you up on that offer.”

Nadine leant in close. “Good.”

Chloe grabbed her face and kissed her. She kept kissing her while she slipped out of her sweats and pulled her shirt over her head. They broke apart and Chloe threw her shirt in Nadine’s face.

“What-?!”

Nadine felt Chloe step into the bath behind her. She tossed the shirt aside and turned to look over her shoulder at Chloe.

“I didn’t get to see so you don’t either,” she said. Her arms wrapped around Nadine’s waist to pull her in close. Chloe kissed her neck.

To have Chloe naked and pressed against her made Nadine stiffen up. She fought hard to relax, but it wasn’t until Chloe reached into her hair and gently pulled her head down to rest against her chest that Nadine felt the tension ease out of her body. Nadine closed her eyes and breathed out. There had to be a way that they could stay like this forever.

“I feel like that rubber duck is judging us,” Chloe mumbled into her ear. Nadine cracked an eye open to see that the rubber duck at the other end of the bath was staring right back at them. She nudged it with her toe to get it to face away.

Chloe smiled and let her lips graze along Nadine’s neck and shoulder, and her hands stroked her sides. It made her giddy – Chloe could not remember a time where she had ever felt _giddy_ – to feel Nadine melt into her more and more, to hear her soft sighs.

“Frazer?”

Chloe gently nipped at her neck. “Hm?”

“What are we doing?” 

Chloe lifted her head. “What do you mean?”

“This.” Nadine turned her head to face her. “Us. What are we?”

Chloe cupped her cheek. “We’re partners.”

“Do you take baths with all your partners?”

“No.” Chloe paused and looked off to the side pensively. “Wait.” She put her finger to Nadine’s lips. “No, wait. Yeah, I actually have taken a bath-”

Nadine cut her off by splashing Chloe with water. “You dickhead.”

Chloe laughed. She grabbed Nadine’s face and pulled her into another kiss. When they broke apart, she rested her forehead against Nadine’s. Chloe searched her face while she tried gather her thoughts.

“I’ve never…” She stopped and bit her lip. “I… Nobody has ever made me feel like you. I have felt a lot of things in my life, but you… You just… I can’t even describe what you do to me.”

Nadine smiled. “I know exactly what you do to me. You drive me crazy.”

“But in a good way, right?”

Nadine chuckled and shook her head. She turned around again and leaned against Chloe’s chest, nestling her head into the bend between Chloe’s neck and her shoulder.

“I’m not going anywhere.” Chloe gently pressed her lips against her temple. “You’re not getting rid of me. Unless, you know, you punch me in the face again, or shoot me, or lie to me about being blackmailed by a lunatic who kidnapped your family…”

Their fingers interlaced and Nadine lifted her hand out of the water to kiss the back of Chloe’s hand.

“Sounds like a deal.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, I can't believe I'm almost done with this fanfic and it's got over a thousand hits and almost a hundred kudos - I'm honestly so happy. Thank you so much for all of your guys' interest and enthusiasm and kind comments, they've really helped make this weird time that much more bearable. I hope I managed to help you a little as well.


	20. Epilogue

* * *

A mixture of blood and sweat trickled into his eye; it stung abominably. There was no way for him to stop it with his hands tied behind his back and Sam began to sway his head back and forth, trying to get the liquid to change its course. He couldn’t quite remember how he’d gotten the cut above his brow. There was a dim memory that involved a broken bottle, and then there was that barbed wire… Really, it was a miracle he didn’t have more wounds.

With his left eye pressed shut, Sam used the other to inspect his surroundings. He was bound to a rickety fold-out chair that squeaked under his weight. He seemed to be in some sort of hut that didn’t consist of much more than this room. There were tables and other chairs, but they had been pushed aside against the wall to make room for him in the centre, exposed. The windows were dirty and small; through them he could see the beach and the clear turquoise ocean outside. Sam guessed he was on some random, tiny island in the Caribbean. And that meant that he had to get his hands on a boat to escape. Well, first he’d have to find a way to untie them before he could lay them on anything.

The door swung open and the sunlight shone directly in his face. Against it he made out three figures.

“Do you mind?” he said, trying to shift in his chair to get out of the light. “It’s kind of bright.”

One of them slammed the door shut, allowing Sam to see clearly. It was the pirate, the one he had only managed to catch a glimpse of before his men entered his boat and knocked him out. He was a very short man; the two people flanking him towered over him. They wore bandanas that obscured everything below their eyes, but their leader showed his face plainly. It was a sun-beaten, pockmarked face.

The pirate took off his panama hat and tossed into a corner of the room; he pulled out a handkerchief and used it to wipe the sweat from his shiny bald head. He knelt down in front of Sam and used that same handkerchief to dab at his cut. It stung.

“That’s really not-” Sam tried to pull away, but the man grabbed his chin forcefully to keep his head steady. “Okay. Never mind then.”

“My men were telling me that the gringo we found cruising through our waters wasn’t talking,” the pirate said in a soft, low voice. “So I thought maybe I should come down here myself to have a little chat.”

“This is all just a misunderstanding,” Sam explained. “I never meant to enter your waters. I was just trying to get the police-”

“Ah, yes. The police. What was the Venezuelan police doing chasing you so far from the mainland?” He pocketed his handkerchief but kept the strong grip on Sam’s face. “They don’t do that for just anyone.”

“We had a little bit of a misunderstanding.”

“Hm. A misunderstanding.” The pirate stood up and began to pace about the room. “The Venezuelans don’t send seven police boats out to chase a single man for hundreds of kilometres because of a _misunderstanding_.”

“Guess I’m special then-”

The pirate back-hand slapped him so quickly that Sam barely had time to register that it had happened. His lip burst open and the taste of blood filled his mouth.

“I don’t like the tone you’re taking with me,” he warned Sam. “You were all alone on that boat. No money, no men, no weapons. All you had on you was this.” He reached behind him and the man to his left handed him a sceptre. He slapped it against his open palm and stared at Sam. “What is this?”

It was a half-metre long, golden baton at the top of which was a sculpture of an eagle carrying a man. It was covered in intricate carvings and bejewelled. Sam twitched with how roughly the pirate was handling the sceptre; it did not take a genius to realise its great worth.

Sam did not answer the question.

“What is this?” The pirate repeated. “What did you want to do with it?”

His mouth remained closed.

“Answer me, puto!”

The man reached out to strike Sam again, but suddenly his face contorted and he slumped forwards, onto Sam. The sceptre fell out of his hand and rolled across the floor. Sam looked up to see that one of the people that had accompanied the pirate into the room had their gun out. They had shot him. Their eyes met briefly and recognition washed over him, before she had to look away to deal with the remaining man. He pulled his gun on her – or rather, tried to. She kicked him in the stomach, causing him to slam into the wall. She grabbed his head and banged it against the wall once more for good measure; his eyes rolled into the back of his head and the man went limp.

Nadine ripped the bandana off and sighed.

“Fucking hard to breathe under that thing,” she said and unsheathed her pen knife. She walked behind Sam and sliced through the zip ties holding his wrists together. “What did you get yourself into this time?”

“It’s a whole thing; I’ll explain later,” Sam replied, rubbing his wrists where the hard plastic had cut into his skin. He waited for Nadine to free his legs before getting up and retrieving the sceptre from the floor. “There we go, come to Papa.”

Nadine snatched the sceptre from him and inspected it. “What is it?”

“ _That_ ,” Sam grabbed it back, “is a seventh century French crown jewel, missing since 1795. I thought it would make a perfect housewarming gift.”

She chuckled. “You could have just bought something off the registry.”

“Where is the adventure in that?” he asked, tucking the sceptre away. “Speaking of, where is your wife? Or did you come-”

He was cut off by a loud explosion. The ground under their feet shook hard enough for Sam and Nadine to hold on to each other for stability. One of the cabinet doors flew off the hinges and clattered to the floor. They smelled fire.

“Is that…?”

Nadine reloaded her gun. “She insisted on bringing the RPG.” She tossed another pistol at Sam. “Come on, we better get moving.”

She kicked the door open; a grey cloud of a smoke and debris greeted them. There was shouting and gunfire in the distance, and a second explosion went off.

“The boat is at the end of the jetty.” Nadine pulled the bandana back over her nose and mouth. “Try not to breathe too much of this stuff in.”

“I mean, I’ll try.”

They ran into the cloud. Sam stayed close to Nadine, afraid he might lose her in the smoke. She led the way, firing at anyone who tried to stop them. The smoke grew thicker as the explosions continued behind them. They made it onto the beach and Nadine pulled Sam behind a boulder before a rocket detonated dangerously close by.

“Is she trying to kill us too?!” he shouted. “Did you guys get in a fight before this?!”

“She probably can’t see us.” Nadine fired behind her blindly. “That’s our boat over there. We’re close.”

They broke into a sprint, running across the sand until they got to the wooden dock that reached far into the ocean. At the end of it floated a white motorboat; Sam could make out the vague shape of Chloe standing on deck, with an RPG over her shoulder. Her hair was open and flowing in the wind. The closer Sam got, the more clearly he could see her, and he saw that she was having a whale of a time. Chloe was beaming as she fired explosives at the pursuing pirates.

Sam reached the end of the jetty and leapt into the boat. Nadine followed suit, scrambling to her feet to reach the cabin and start the motor. The boat jolted forwards, almost knocking Sam over, but Chloe stayed put. She reloaded the RPG and fired another rocket.

“I think that’s enough now, eh?” Nadine yelled over the sound of the weapon and the wind.

Chloe considered her words briefly before sighing heavily. She took the gun off her shoulder. “You’re no fun.”

“Is someone in your condition even meant to operate that kind of machinery?” Sam asked. He pulled the sceptre out of his trousers before sinking into one of the white leather chairs.

“You’re starting to sound like her,” Chloe jerked her head in the direction of Nadine. She dropped the weapon and unzipped the bullet proof vest she was wearing. “Even made me put on this thing. I’ve never worn a bullet proof anything in my _life_.”

“Well, you’re never too old to start trying new things,” Sam replied.

The boat skidded over the ocean. The island shrank until it ultimately disappeared. Sam looked out for any pursuers, but there were none. He dangled his hand out of the boat and let the water rush past his fingertips, enjoying the breeze. It had been sweltering in that room.

Chloe picked up the sceptre and inspected it. There was something familiar about it, like she’d seen it before. Or maybe it had been a sketch…

“The Sceptre of Dagobert,” Sam said. “Crafted almost fifteen hundred years ago by Saint Eligius, the patron saint of goldsmiths.”

Chloe raised her eyebrows in appreciation. “Not bad.”

“He wants to give it to us as a housewarming gift,” Nadine added.

“Yeah, well, not really. That was more of a joke-”

Sam went to take the sceptre from Chloe, but she pulled away.

“Too late, I’ve already accepted.” She let herself down in the chair opposite him. “You know, you _do_ really still owe us a housewarming gift…”

Sam grinned, reaching into his pocket for a carton of cigarettes. “I can’t believe you spent all of the money Ibarra gave you on a _house_. How grown-up of you.”

The professor had somehow managed to track the three of them down using the phone Chloe gave him to call for help. She had gone back to South Africa with Nadine to help with her recovery when the latter received a call from Ibarra, thanking them for what they had done. After hearing the whole story, he bestowed a finder’s fee on them; it wasn’t nearly as much as they would have made had they kept the treasure for themselves, but it was enough for Chloe and Nadine to buy a home out of pocket.

Chloe ran her hand over her stomach. “Sometimes you need to be a little grown-up. But only sometimes.”

The rumbling of the engine stopped and the boat began to slow down. Nadine abandoned the steering wheel and got out two beers and a lemonade from the cooler on board. She handed a beer to Sam.

“I don’t think they’ve managed to follow us.”

“They shouldn’t be; I shot up their boats,” Chloe said, opening Nadine’s bottle for her with a knife. She passed it back and put her legs in her wife’s lap. “So, Sam. How did you find a French sceptre on a Caribbean island?”

“I actually didn’t find it on an island; it was in Venezuela. Well, first it was in Guyana – I mean, first it was in France, obviously.” He stopped and shook his head. “It’s a long story, I’ll tell you later. You go. How’s married life been treating you?”

Chloe toyed with the golden band around her finger. “Good. You know, it’s much like non-married life, except I get hit on way less.”

“Don’t sound so disappointed,” Nadine said.

“It had its perks,” Chloe shrugged. Nadine slapped her leg.

“What about pregnant life?”

“Fine.”

“She threw up every day for two months,” her wife corrected her. “Couldn’t keep down any food, not even soup. She barely managed with water-”

“Nadine.” Chloe cautioned.

“She couldn’t sleep,” Nadine continued. “Her blood pressure was all over the place. She had constant back pain, was constipated-”

“Alright, china, that’s enough!” Chloe kicked Nadine in the side.

“Yeah, no, that’s plenty,” Sam said. He reached out with his beer bottle. “Let’s cheers to you two and the baby. And the amazing rescue mission you just mounted.”

They all clinked their bottles together. Nadine took a sip and brushed some hair behind Chloe’s ear. Chloe kissed her cheek.

“So…” Sam put the beer aside and rubbed his hands together. “When are you going to ask me?”

“Ask you?” Chloe repeated. “Ask you what?”

“You know…”

They shook their heads at him.

“To be the godfather.”

Chloe and Nadine burst out laughing.

“What?” He stared at them. “What’s so funny?”

“Are you being serious?” Nadine pushed her sunglasses into her hair. “Come on, Drake.”

“What? Hey, I’ve earned it. Okay? Without me, there would be no baby. There would be no you two. Don’t forget, I was the one who got you to share a sleeping bag in Utah,” Sam argued. “Plus, Sully got to be Cassie’s godfather and I don’t want to miss out.”

Chloe rolled her lip between her fingers. She looked up at Nadine. “He’s kind of got a point.”

“Frazer, no-”

“Frazer, yes!” Sam interjected. “Come on. You know I’d make a good godfather to baby Sam.”

“ _Baby Sam_?!” Nadine repeated.

“Well, yeah. It’s gender neutral. It’s a classic-”

“Chloe, are you hearing this?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know, I kind of like it…”

“Oh, God no-”

“See?!”

“I am not naming our child after a _Drake_.”

“You and your anti-Drake vendetta; I thought we were over that by now.”

Chloe leaned back and listened to their playful bickering. She tried to balance her bottle of lemonade on her growing stomach, laughing and Sam and Nadine’s words.

They had come so far. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's it! Damn.   
> Naughty Dog, I will give you all my money. Just PLEASE make a second game, for the love of god.   
> Hope you are all staying safe out there


End file.
